Valmiki Ramayana 1.31

1.31.1

brahmayonir mahān āsīt kuśo nāma mahātapāḥ
vaidarbhyāṃ janayām āsa caturaḥ sadṛśān sutān
kuśāmbaṃ kuśanābhaṃ ca ādhūrtarajasaṃ vasum

'A king of Brahmá's seed who bore
The name of Kus'a reigned of yore.
Just, faithful to his vows, and true,
He held the good in honour due.
His bride, a queen of noble name.
Of old Vidarbha's monarchs came.
Like their own father, children four,
All valiant boys, the lady bore.
In glorious deeds each nerve they strained,
And well their Warrior part sustained.
To them most just, and true, and brave,
Their father thus his counsel gave:
"Beloved children, ne'er forget
Protection is a prince's debt:
The noble work at once begin,
High virtue and her fruits to win."
The youths to all the people dear,
Received his speech with willing ear;
And each went forth his several way,
Foundations of a town to lay.
Kus'án, a prince of high renown,
Was builder of Kaus'ámbí's town,
And Kus'anábha, just and wise,
Bade high Mahodaya's towers arise.
Amúrtarajas chose to dwell
In Dharmáranya's citadel,
And Vasu bade his city fair
The name of Girivraja bear.
This fertile spot whereon we stand
Was once the high-souled Vasu's land.
Behold! as round we turn our eyes,

1.31.2

dīptiyuktān mahotsāhān kṣatradharmacikīrṣayā
tān uvāca kuśaḥ putrān dharmiṣṭhān satyavādinaḥ
kriyatāṃ pālanaṃ putrā dharmaṃ prāpsyatha puṣkalam

'A king of Brahmá's seed who bore
The name of Kus'a reigned of yore.
Just, faithful to his vows, and true,
He held the good in honour due.
His bride, a queen of noble name.
Of old Vidarbha's monarchs came.
Like their own father, children four,
All valiant boys, the lady bore.
In glorious deeds each nerve they strained,
And well their Warrior part sustained.
To them most just, and true, and brave,
Their father thus his counsel gave:
"Beloved children, ne'er forget
Protection is a prince's debt:
The noble work at once begin,
High virtue and her fruits to win."
The youths to all the people dear,
Received his speech with willing ear;
And each went forth his several way,
Foundations of a town to lay.
Kus'án, a prince of high renown,
Was builder of Kaus'ámbí's town,
And Kus'anábha, just and wise,
Bade high Mahodaya's towers arise.
Amúrtarajas chose to dwell
In Dharmáranya's citadel,
And Vasu bade his city fair
The name of Girivraja bear.
This fertile spot whereon we stand
Was once the high-souled Vasu's land.
Behold! as round we turn our eyes,

1.31.3

kuśasya vacanaṃ śrutvā catvāro lokasaṃmatāḥ
niveśaṃ cakrire sarve purāṇāṃ nṛvarās tadā

'A king of Brahmá's seed who bore
The name of Kus'a reigned of yore.
Just, faithful to his vows, and true,
He held the good in honour due.
His bride, a queen of noble name.
Of old Vidarbha's monarchs came.
Like their own father, children four,
All valiant boys, the lady bore.
In glorious deeds each nerve they strained,
And well their Warrior part sustained.
To them most just, and true, and brave,
Their father thus his counsel gave:
"Beloved children, ne'er forget
Protection is a prince's debt:
The noble work at once begin,
High virtue and her fruits to win."
The youths to all the people dear,
Received his speech with willing ear;
And each went forth his several way,
Foundations of a town to lay.
Kus'án, a prince of high renown,
Was builder of Kaus'ámbí's town,
And Kus'anábha, just and wise,
Bade high Mahodaya's towers arise.
Amúrtarajas chose to dwell
In Dharmáranya's citadel,
And Vasu bade his city fair
The name of Girivraja bear.
This fertile spot whereon we stand
Was once the high-souled Vasu's land.
Behold! as round we turn our eyes,

1.31.4

kuśāmbas tu mahātejāḥ kauśāmbīm akarot purīm
kuśanābhas tu dharmātmā paraṃ cakre mahodayam

'A king of Brahmá's seed who bore
The name of Kus'a reigned of yore.
Just, faithful to his vows, and true,
He held the good in honour due.
His bride, a queen of noble name.
Of old Vidarbha's monarchs came.
Like their own father, children four,
All valiant boys, the lady bore.
In glorious deeds each nerve they strained,
And well their Warrior part sustained.
To them most just, and true, and brave,
Their father thus his counsel gave:
"Beloved children, ne'er forget
Protection is a prince's debt:
The noble work at once begin,
High virtue and her fruits to win."
The youths to all the people dear,
Received his speech with willing ear;
And each went forth his several way,
Foundations of a town to lay.
Kus'án, a prince of high renown,
Was builder of Kaus'ámbí's town,
And Kus'anábha, just and wise,
Bade high Mahodaya's towers arise.
Amúrtarajas chose to dwell
In Dharmáranya's citadel,
And Vasu bade his city fair
The name of Girivraja bear.
This fertile spot whereon we stand
Was once the high-souled Vasu's land.
Behold! as round we turn our eyes,

1.31.5

ādhūrtarajaso rāma dharmāraṇyaṃ mahīpatiḥ
cakre puravaraṃ rājā vasuś cakre girivrajam

'A king of Brahmá's seed who bore
The name of Kus'a reigned of yore.
Just, faithful to his vows, and true,
He held the good in honour due.
His bride, a queen of noble name.
Of old Vidarbha's monarchs came.
Like their own father, children four,
All valiant boys, the lady bore.
In glorious deeds each nerve they strained,
And well their Warrior part sustained.
To them most just, and true, and brave,
Their father thus his counsel gave:
"Beloved children, ne'er forget
Protection is a prince's debt:
The noble work at once begin,
High virtue and her fruits to win."
The youths to all the people dear,
Received his speech with willing ear;
And each went forth his several way,
Foundations of a town to lay.
Kus'án, a prince of high renown,
Was builder of Kaus'ámbí's town,
And Kus'anábha, just and wise,
Bade high Mahodaya's towers arise.
Amúrtarajas chose to dwell
In Dharmáranya's citadel,
And Vasu bade his city fair
The name of Girivraja bear.
This fertile spot whereon we stand
Was once the high-souled Vasu's land.
Behold! as round we turn our eyes,

1.31.6

eṣā vasumatī rāma vasos tasya mahātmanaḥ
ete śailavarāḥ pañca prakāśante samantataḥ

'A king of Brahmá's seed who bore
The name of Kus'a reigned of yore.
Just, faithful to his vows, and true,
He held the good in honour due.
His bride, a queen of noble name.
Of old Vidarbha's monarchs came.
Like their own father, children four,
All valiant boys, the lady bore.
In glorious deeds each nerve they strained,
And well their Warrior part sustained.
To them most just, and true, and brave,
Their father thus his counsel gave:
"Beloved children, ne'er forget
Protection is a prince's debt:
The noble work at once begin,
High virtue and her fruits to win."
The youths to all the people dear,
Received his speech with willing ear;
And each went forth his several way,
Foundations of a town to lay.
Kus'án, a prince of high renown,
Was builder of Kaus'ámbí's town,
And Kus'anábha, just and wise,
Bade high Mahodaya's towers arise.
Amúrtarajas chose to dwell
In Dharmáranya's citadel,
And Vasu bade his city fair
The name of Girivraja bear.
This fertile spot whereon we stand
Was once the high-souled Vasu's land.
Behold! as round we turn our eyes,

Five lofty mountain peaks arise.
See! bursting from her parent hill,
Sumágadhi, a lovely rill,
Bright gleaming as she flows between
The mountains, like a wreath is seen,
And then through Magadh's plains and groves
With many a fair mæander roves.
And this was Vasu's old domain,
The fertile Magadh's broad champaign,
Which smiling fields of tilth adorn
And diadem with golden corn.

1.31.7

sumāgadhī nadī ramyā māgadhān viśrutāyayau
pañcānāṃ śailamukhyānāṃ madhye māleva śobhate

Five lofty mountain peaks arise.
See! bursting from her parent hill,
Sumágadhi, a lovely rill,
Bright gleaming as she flows between
The mountains, like a wreath is seen,
And then through Magadh's plains and groves
With many a fair mæander roves.
And this was Vasu's old domain,
The fertile Magadh's broad champaign,
Which smiling fields of tilth adorn
And diadem with golden corn.

1.31.8

saiṣā hi māgadhī rāma vasos tasya mahātmanaḥ
pūrvābhicaritā rāma sukṣetrā sasyamālinī

Five lofty mountain peaks arise.
See! bursting from her parent hill,
Sumágadhi, a lovely rill,
Bright gleaming as she flows between
The mountains, like a wreath is seen,
And then through Magadh's plains and groves
With many a fair mæander roves.
And this was Vasu's old domain,
The fertile Magadh's broad champaign,
Which smiling fields of tilth adorn
And diadem with golden corn.

1.31.9

kuśanābhas tu rājarṣiḥ kanyāśatam anuttamam
janayām āsa dharmātmā ghṛtācyāṃ raghunandana

The queen Ghrítáchí, nymph most fair,
Married to Kus'anábha, bare
A hundred daughters, lovely-faced,
With every charm and beauty graced.
It chanced the maidens, bright and gay
As lightning-flashes on a day
Of rain time, to the garden went
With song and play and merriment,
And there in gay attire they strayed,
And danced, and laughed, and sang, and played.
The God of Wind who roves at will
All places, as he lists, to fill,
Saw the young maidens dancing there,
Of faultless shape and mien most fair,
'I love you all, sweet girls,' he cried,
And each shall be my darling bride.
Forsake, forsake your mortal lot,
And gain a life that withers not.
A fickle thing is youth's brief span,
And more than all in mortal man.
Receive unending youth, and be
Immortal, O my loves, with me.'

1.31.10

tās tu yauvanaśālinyo rūpavatyaḥ svalaṃkṛtāḥ
udyānabhūmim āgamya prāvṛṣīva śatahradāḥ

The queen Ghrítáchí, nymph most fair,
Married to Kus'anábha, bare
A hundred daughters, lovely-faced,
With every charm and beauty graced.
It chanced the maidens, bright and gay
As lightning-flashes on a day
Of rain time, to the garden went
With song and play and merriment,
And there in gay attire they strayed,
And danced, and laughed, and sang, and played.
The God of Wind who roves at will
All places, as he lists, to fill,
Saw the young maidens dancing there,
Of faultless shape and mien most fair,
'I love you all, sweet girls,' he cried,
And each shall be my darling bride.
Forsake, forsake your mortal lot,
And gain a life that withers not.
A fickle thing is youth's brief span,
And more than all in mortal man.
Receive unending youth, and be
Immortal, O my loves, with me.'

1.31.11

gāyantyo nṛtyamānāś ca vādayantyaś ca rāghava
āmodaṃ paramaṃ jagmur varābharaṇabhūṣitāḥ

The queen Ghrítáchí, nymph most fair,
Married to Kus'anábha, bare
A hundred daughters, lovely-faced,
With every charm and beauty graced.
It chanced the maidens, bright and gay
As lightning-flashes on a day
Of rain time, to the garden went
With song and play and merriment,
And there in gay attire they strayed,
And danced, and laughed, and sang, and played.
The God of Wind who roves at will
All places, as he lists, to fill,
Saw the young maidens dancing there,
Of faultless shape and mien most fair,
'I love you all, sweet girls,' he cried,
And each shall be my darling bride.
Forsake, forsake your mortal lot,
And gain a life that withers not.
A fickle thing is youth's brief span,
And more than all in mortal man.
Receive unending youth, and be
Immortal, O my loves, with me.'

1.31.12

atha tāś cārusarvāṅgyo rūpeṇāpratimā bhuvi
udyānabhūmim āgamya tārā iva ghanāntare

The queen Ghrítáchí, nymph most fair,
Married to Kus'anábha, bare
A hundred daughters, lovely-faced,
With every charm and beauty graced.
It chanced the maidens, bright and gay
As lightning-flashes on a day
Of rain time, to the garden went
With song and play and merriment,
And there in gay attire they strayed,
And danced, and laughed, and sang, and played.
The God of Wind who roves at will
All places, as he lists, to fill,
Saw the young maidens dancing there,
Of faultless shape and mien most fair,
'I love you all, sweet girls,' he cried,
And each shall be my darling bride.
Forsake, forsake your mortal lot,
And gain a life that withers not.
A fickle thing is youth's brief span,
And more than all in mortal man.
Receive unending youth, and be
Immortal, O my loves, with me.'

1.31.13

tāḥ sarvaguṇasaṃpannā rūpayauvanasaṃyutāḥ
dṛṣṭvā sarvātmako vāyur idaṃ vacanam abravīt

The queen Ghrítáchí, nymph most fair,
Married to Kus'anábha, bare
A hundred daughters, lovely-faced,
With every charm and beauty graced.
It chanced the maidens, bright and gay
As lightning-flashes on a day
Of rain time, to the garden went
With song and play and merriment,
And there in gay attire they strayed,
And danced, and laughed, and sang, and played.
The God of Wind who roves at will
All places, as he lists, to fill,
Saw the young maidens dancing there,
Of faultless shape and mien most fair,
'I love you all, sweet girls,' he cried,
And each shall be my darling bride.
Forsake, forsake your mortal lot,
And gain a life that withers not.
A fickle thing is youth's brief span,
And more than all in mortal man.
Receive unending youth, and be
Immortal, O my loves, with me.'

1.31.14

ahaṃ vaḥ kāmaye sarvā bhāryā mama bhaviṣyatha
mānuṣas tyajyatāṃ bhāvo dīrgham āyur avāpsyatha

The queen Ghrítáchí, nymph most fair,
Married to Kus'anábha, bare
A hundred daughters, lovely-faced,
With every charm and beauty graced.
It chanced the maidens, bright and gay
As lightning-flashes on a day
Of rain time, to the garden went
With song and play and merriment,
And there in gay attire they strayed,
And danced, and laughed, and sang, and played.
The God of Wind who roves at will
All places, as he lists, to fill,
Saw the young maidens dancing there,
Of faultless shape and mien most fair,
'I love you all, sweet girls,' he cried,
And each shall be my darling bride.
Forsake, forsake your mortal lot,
And gain a life that withers not.
A fickle thing is youth's brief span,
And more than all in mortal man.
Receive unending youth, and be
Immortal, O my loves, with me.'

1.31.15

tasya tad vacanaṃ śrutvā vāyor akliṣṭakarmaṇaḥ
apahāsya tato vākyaṃ kanyāśatam athābravīt

The hundred girls, to wonder stirred,
The wooing of the Wind-God heard,
Laughed, as a jest, his suit aside,
And with one voice they thus replied.
'O mighty Wind, free spirit who
All life pervadest, through and through,
Thy wondrous power we maidens know;
Then wherefore wilt thou mock us so?
Our sire is Kus'anábha, King;
And we, forsooth, have charms to bring
A God to woo us from the skies;
But honour first we maidens prize.
Far may the hour, we pray, be hence,
When we, O thou of little sense,
Our truthful father's choice refuse,
And for ourselves our husbands choose.
Our honoured sire our lord we deem,
He is to us a God supreme,
And they to whom his high decree
May give us shall our husbands be.'

1.31.16

antaś carasi bhūtānāṃ sarveṣāṃ tvaṃ surottama
prabhāvajñāś ca te sarvāḥ kim asmān avamanyase

The hundred girls, to wonder stirred,
The wooing of the Wind-God heard,
Laughed, as a jest, his suit aside,
And with one voice they thus replied.
'O mighty Wind, free spirit who
All life pervadest, through and through,
Thy wondrous power we maidens know;
Then wherefore wilt thou mock us so?
Our sire is Kus'anábha, King;
And we, forsooth, have charms to bring
A God to woo us from the skies;
But honour first we maidens prize.
Far may the hour, we pray, be hence,
When we, O thou of little sense,
Our truthful father's choice refuse,
And for ourselves our husbands choose.
Our honoured sire our lord we deem,
He is to us a God supreme,
And they to whom his high decree
May give us shall our husbands be.'

1.31.17

kuśanābhasutāḥ sarvāḥ samarthās tvāṃ surottama
sthānāc cyāvayituṃ devaṃ rakṣāmas tu tapo vayam

The hundred girls, to wonder stirred,
The wooing of the Wind-God heard,
Laughed, as a jest, his suit aside,
And with one voice they thus replied.
'O mighty Wind, free spirit who
All life pervadest, through and through,
Thy wondrous power we maidens know;
Then wherefore wilt thou mock us so?
Our sire is Kus'anábha, King;
And we, forsooth, have charms to bring
A God to woo us from the skies;
But honour first we maidens prize.
Far may the hour, we pray, be hence,
When we, O thou of little sense,
Our truthful father's choice refuse,
And for ourselves our husbands choose.
Our honoured sire our lord we deem,
He is to us a God supreme,
And they to whom his high decree
May give us shall our husbands be.'

1.31.18

mā bhūt sa kālo durmedhaḥ pitaraṃ satyavādinam
nāvamanyasva dharmeṇa svayaṃ varam upāsmahe

The hundred girls, to wonder stirred,
The wooing of the Wind-God heard,
Laughed, as a jest, his suit aside,
And with one voice they thus replied.
'O mighty Wind, free spirit who
All life pervadest, through and through,
Thy wondrous power we maidens know;
Then wherefore wilt thou mock us so?
Our sire is Kus'anábha, King;
And we, forsooth, have charms to bring
A God to woo us from the skies;
But honour first we maidens prize.
Far may the hour, we pray, be hence,
When we, O thou of little sense,
Our truthful father's choice refuse,
And for ourselves our husbands choose.
Our honoured sire our lord we deem,
He is to us a God supreme,
And they to whom his high decree
May give us shall our husbands be.'

1.31.19

pitā hi prabhur asmākaṃ daivataṃ paramaṃ hi saḥ
yasya no dāsyati pitā sa no bhartā bhaviṣyati

The hundred girls, to wonder stirred,
The wooing of the Wind-God heard,
Laughed, as a jest, his suit aside,
And with one voice they thus replied.
'O mighty Wind, free spirit who
All life pervadest, through and through,
Thy wondrous power we maidens know;
Then wherefore wilt thou mock us so?
Our sire is Kus'anábha, King;
And we, forsooth, have charms to bring
A God to woo us from the skies;
But honour first we maidens prize.
Far may the hour, we pray, be hence,
When we, O thou of little sense,
Our truthful father's choice refuse,
And for ourselves our husbands choose.
Our honoured sire our lord we deem,
He is to us a God supreme,
And they to whom his high decree
May give us shall our husbands be.'

1.31.20

tāsāṃ tad vacanaṃ śrutvā vāyuḥ paramakopanaḥ
praviśya sarvagātrāṇi babhañja bhagavān prabhuḥ

He heard the answer they returned,
And mighty rage within him burned.
On each fair maid a blast he sent:
Each stately form be bowed and bent.
Bent double by the Wind-God's ire
Tliey sought the palace of their sire,
There fell upon the ground with sighs,
While tears and shame were in their eyes.
The king himself, with troubled brow,
Saw his dear girls so fair but now,
A mournful sight all bent and bowed,
And grieving thus he cried aloud:
'What fate is this, and what the cause!
What wretch has scorned all heavenly laws?
Who thus your forms could curve and break?
You struggle, but no answer make.'

1.31.21

tāḥ kanyā vāyunā bhagnā viviśur nṛpater gṛham
dṛṣṭvā bhagnās tadā rājā saṃbhrānta idam abravīt

He heard the answer they returned,
And mighty rage within him burned.
On each fair maid a blast he sent:
Each stately form be bowed and bent.
Bent double by the Wind-God's ire
Tliey sought the palace of their sire,
There fell upon the ground with sighs,
While tears and shame were in their eyes.
The king himself, with troubled brow,
Saw his dear girls so fair but now,
A mournful sight all bent and bowed,
And grieving thus he cried aloud:
'What fate is this, and what the cause!
What wretch has scorned all heavenly laws?
Who thus your forms could curve and break?
You struggle, but no answer make.'

1.31.22

kim idaṃ kathyatāṃ putryaḥ ko dharmam avamanyate
kubjāḥ kena kṛtāḥ sarvā veṣṭantyo nābhibhāṣatha

He heard the answer they returned,
And mighty rage within him burned.
On each fair maid a blast he sent:
Each stately form be bowed and bent.
Bent double by the Wind-God's ire
Tliey sought the palace of their sire,
There fell upon the ground with sighs,
While tears and shame were in their eyes.
The king himself, with troubled brow,
Saw his dear girls so fair but now,
A mournful sight all bent and bowed,
And grieving thus he cried aloud:
'What fate is this, and what the cause!
What wretch has scorned all heavenly laws?
Who thus your forms could curve and break?
You struggle, but no answer make.'