Valmiki Ramayana 1.9: navamaḥ sargaḥ

1.9.1

sumantraś codito rājñā provācedaṃ vacas tadā
yatharṣyaśṛṅgas tv ānītaḥ śṛṇu me mantribhiḥ saha

The wise Sumantra, thus addressed,
Unfolded at the king's behest
The plan the lords in council laid
To draw the hermit from the shade:
'The priest, amid the lordly crowd,
To Lomapád thus spoke aloud:
'Hear, King, the plot our thoughts have framed,
A harmless trick by all unblamed.
Far from the world that hermit's child
Lives lonely in the distant wild:
A stranger to the joys of sense,
His bliss is pain and abstinence;
And all unknown are women yet
To him, a holy anchoret.
The gentle passions we will wake
That with resistless influence shake
The hearts of men; and he
Drawn by enchantment strong and sweet
Shall follow from his lone retreat,
And come and visit thee.
Let ships be formed with utmost care
That artificial trees may bear,
And sweet fruit deftly made;
Let goodly raiment, rich and rare,
And flowers, and many a bird be there
Beneath the leafy shade.
Upon the ships thus decked a band
Of young and lovely girls shall stand,
Rich in each charm that wakes desire,
And eyes that burn with amorous fire;
Well skilled to sing, and play, and dance
And ply their trade with smile and glance
Let these, attired in hermits' dress,
Betake them to the wilderness,
And bring the boy of life austere
A voluntary captive here.'

1.9.2

lomapādam uvācedaṃ sahāmātyaḥ purohitaḥ
upāyo nirapāyo 'yam asmābhir abhicintitaḥ

1.9.3

ṛśyaśṛṅgo vanacaras tapaḥsvādhyāyane rataḥ
anabhijñaḥ sa nārīṇāṃ viṣayāṇāṃ sukhasya ca

1.9.4

indriyārthair abhimatair naracittapramāthibhiḥ
puram ānāyayiṣyāmaḥ kṣipraṃ cādhyavasīyatām

1.9.5

gaṇikās tatra gacchantu rūpavatyaḥ svalaṃkṛtāḥ
pralobhya vividhopāyair āneṣyantīha satkṛtāḥ

1.9.6

śrutvā tatheti rājā ca pratyuvāca purohitam
purohito mantriṇaś ca tathā cakruś ca te tadā

He ended; and the king agreed,
By the priest's counsel won.
And all the ministers took heed
To see his bidding done.
In ships with wondrous art prepared
Away the lovely women fared,
And soon beneath the shade they stood
Of the wild, lonely, dreary wood.
And there the leafy cot they found
Where dwelt the devotee,
And looked with eager eyes around
The hermit's son to see.
Still, of Vibhándak sore afraid,
They hid behind the creepers' shade.
But when by careful watch they knew
The elder saint was far from view,
With bolder steps they ventured nigh
To catch the youthful hermit's eye.
Then all the damsels, blithe and gay,
At various games began to play.
They tossed the flying ball about
With dance and song and merry shout,
And moved, their scented tresses bound
With wreaths, in mazy motion round.
Some girls as if by love possessed,
Sank to the earth in feigned unrest,
Up starting quickly to pursue
Their intermitted game anew.
It was a lovely sight to see
Those fair ones, as they played,
While fragrant robes were floating free,
And bracelets clashing in their glee
A pleasant tinkling made.
The anklet's chime, the Koïl's cry
With music filled the place
As 'twere some city in the sky
Which heavenly minstrels grace.
With each voluptuous art they strove
To win the tenant of the grove,
And with their graceful forms inspire
His modest soul with soft desire.
With arch of brow, with beck and smile,
With every passion-waking wile
Of glance and lotus hand,
With all enticements that excite
The longing for unknown delight
Which boys in vain withstand.
Forth came the hermit's son to view
The wondrous sight to him so new,
And gazed in rapt surprise,
For from his natal hour till then
On woman or the sons of men
He ne'er had cast his eyes.
He saw them with their waists so slim,
With fairest shape and faultless limb,
In variegated robes arrayed,
And sweetly singing as they played.
Near and more near the hermit drew,
And watched them at their game,
And stronger still the impulse grew
To question whence they came.
They marked the young ascetic gaze
With curious eye and wild amaze,
And sweet the long-eyed damsels sang,
And shrill their merry laughter rang,
Then came they nearer to his side,
And languishing with passion cried:
'Whose son, O youth, and who art thou,
Come suddenly to join us now?
And why dost thou all lonely dwell
In the wild wood? We pray thee, tell,
We wish to know thee, gentle youth;
Come, tell us, if thou wilt, the truth.'

1.9.7

vāramukhyās tu tac chrutvā vanaṃ praviviśur mahat
āśramasyāvidūre 'smin yatnaṃ kurvanti darśane
ṛṣiputrasya ghorasya nityam āśramavāsinaḥ

1.9.8

pituḥ sa nityasaṃtuṣṭo nāticakrāma cāśramāt

1.9.9

na tena janmaprabhṛti dṛṣṭapūrvaṃ tapasvinā
strī vā pumān vā yac cānyat sattvaṃ nagararāṣṭrajam

1.9.10

tataḥ kadā cit taṃ deśam ājagāma yadṛcchayā
vibhāṇḍakasutas tatra tāś cāpaśyad varāṅganāḥ

1.9.11

tāś citraveṣāḥ pramadā gāyantyo madhurasvaraiḥ
ṛṣiputram upāgamya sarvā vacanam abruvan

1.9.12

kas tvaṃ kiṃ vartase brahmañ jñātum icchāmahe vayam
ekas tvaṃ vijane ghore vane carasi śaṃsa naḥ

1.9.13

adṛṣṭarūpās tās tena kāmyarūpā vane striyaḥ
hārdāt tasya matir jātā ākhyātuṃ pitaraṃ svakam

He gazed upon that sight he ne'er
Had seen before, of girls so fair,
And out of love a longing rose
His sire and lineage to disclose:
'My father,' thus he made reply,
'Is Kas'yap's son, a saint most high,
Vibhándak styled; from him I came,
And Rishyaœring he calls my name,
Our hermit cot is near this place:
Come thither, O ye fair of face;
There be it mine, with honour due,
Ye gentle youths, to welcome you.'

1.9.14

pitā vibhāṇḍako 'smākaṃ tasyāhaṃ suta aurasaḥ
ṛśyaśṛṅga iti khyātaṃ nāma karma ca me bhuvi

1.9.15

ihāśramapado 'smākaṃ samīpe śubhadarśanāḥ
kariṣye vo 'tra pūjāṃ vai sarveṣāṃ vidhipūrvakam

1.9.16

ṛṣiputravacaḥ śrutvā sarvāsāṃ matir āsa vai
tad āśramapadaṃ draṣṭuṃ jagmuḥ sarvāś ca tena ha

They heard his speech, and gave consent,
And gladly to his cottage went.
Vibhándak's son received them well
Beneath the shelter of his cell
With guest-gift, water for their feet,
And woodland fruit and roots to eat,
They smiled, and spoke sweet words like these,
Delighted with his courtesies:
'We too have goodly fruit in store,
Grown on the trees that shade our door;
Come, if thou wilt, kind Hermit, haste
The produce of our grove to taste;
And let, O good Ascetic, first
This holy water quench thy thirst.'
They spoke, and gave him comfits sweet
Prepared ripe fruits to counterfeit;
And many a dainty cake beside
And luscious mead their stores supplied.
The seeming fruits, in taste and look,
The unsuspecting hermit took,
For, strange to him, their form beguiled
The dweller in the lonely wild.
Then round his neck fair arms were flung,
And there the laughing damsels clung,
And pressing nearer and more near
With sweet lips whispered at his ear;
While rounded limb and swelling breast
The youthful hermit softly pressed.
The pleasing charm of that strange bowl,
The touch of a tender limb,
Over his yielding spirit stole
And sweetly vanquished him.
But vows, they said, must now be paid;
They bade the boy farewell,
And, of the aged saint afraid,
Prepared to leave the dell.
With ready guile they told him where
Their hermit dwelling lay:
Then, lest the sire should find them there,
Sped by wild paths away.
They fled and left him there alone
By longing love possessed;
And with a heart no more his own
He roamed about distressed.
The aged saint came home, to find
The hermit boy distraught,
Revolving in his troubled mind
One solitary thought.
'Why dost thou not, my son,' he cried,
'Thy due obeisance pay?
Why do I see thee in the tide
Of whelming thought to-day?
A devotee should never wear
A mien so sad and strange.
Come, quickly, dearest child, declare
The reason of the change.'
And Rishyas'ring, when questioned thus,
Made answer in this wise:
'O sire, there came to visit us
Some men with lovely eyes.
About my neck soft arms they wound
And kept me tightly held
To tender breasts so soft and round,
That strangely heaved and swelled.
They sing more sweetly as they dance
Than e'er I heard till now,
And play with many a sidelong glance
And arching of the brow.'
'My son,' said he, 'thus giants roam
Where holy hermits are,
And wander round their peaceful home
Their rites austere to mar.
I charge thee, thou must never lay
Thy trust in them, dear boy:
They seek thee only to betray,
And woo but to destroy.'
Thus having warned him of his foes
That night at home he spent.
And when the morrow's sun arose
Forth to the forest went.

1.9.17

gatānāṃ tu tataḥ pūjām ṛṣiputraś cakāra ha
idam arghyam idaṃ pādyam idaṃ mūlaṃ phalaṃ ca naḥ

1.9.18

pratigṛhya tu tāṃ pūjāṃ sarvā eva samutsukāḥ
ṛṣer bhītāś ca śīghraṃ tu gamanāya matiṃ dadhuḥ

1.9.19

asmākam api mukhyāni phalānīmāni vai dvija
gṛhāṇa prati bhadraṃ te bhakṣayasva ca mā ciram

1.9.20

tatas tās taṃ samāliṅgya sarvā harṣasamanvitāḥ
modakān pradadus tasmai bhakṣyāṃś ca vividhāñ śubhān

1.9.21

tāni cāsvādya tejasvī phalānīti sma manyate
anāsvāditapūrvāṇi vane nityanivāsinā

1.9.22

āpṛcchya ca tadā vipraṃ vratacaryāṃ nivedya ca
gacchanti smāpadeśāt tā bhītās tasya pituḥ striyaḥ

1.9.23

gatāsu tāsu sarvāsu kāśyapasyātmajo dvijaḥ
asvasthahṛdayaś cāsīd duḥkhaṃ sma parivartate

1.9.24

tato 'paredyus taṃ deśam ājagāma sa vīryavān
manojñā yatra tā dṛṣṭā vāramukhyāḥ svalaṃkṛtāḥ

But Rishyas'ring with eager pace
Sped forth and hurried to the place
Where he those visitants had seen
Of daintly waist and charming mien.
When from afar they saw the son
Of Saint Vibhándak toward them run,
To meet the hermit boy they hied,
And hailed him with a smile, and cried:
'O come, we pray, dear lord, behold
Our lovely home of which we told
Due honour there to thee we'll pay,
And speed thee on thy homeward way.'
Pleased with the gracious words they said
He followed where the damsels led.
As with his guides his steps he bent,
That Bráhman high of worth,
A flood of rain from heaven was sent
That gladdened all the earth.

1.9.25

dṛṣṭvaiva ca tadā vipram āyāntaṃ hṛṣṭamānasāḥ
upasṛtya tataḥ sarvās tās tam ūcur idaṃ vacaḥ

1.9.26

ehy āśramapadaṃ saumya asmākam iti cābruvan
tatrāpy eṣa vidhiḥ śrīmān viśeṣeṇa bhaviṣyati

1.9.27

śrutvā tu vacanaṃ tāsāṃ sarvāsāṃ hṛdayaṃgamam
gamanāya matiṃ cakre taṃ ca ninyus tadā striyaḥ

1.9.28

tatra cānīyamāne tu vipre tasmin mahātmani
vavarṣa sahasā devo jagat prahlādayaṃs tadā

1.9.29

varṣeṇaivāgataṃ vipraṃ viṣayaṃ svaṃ narādhipaḥ
pratyudgamya muniṃ prahvaḥ śirasā ca mahīṃ gataḥ

A stately ship, at early morn,
The hermit's son away had borne.
Loud roared the clouds, as on he sped,
The sky grew blacker overhead;
Till, as he reached the royal town,
A mighty flood of rain came down.
By the great rain the monarch's mind
The coming of his guest divined.
To meet the honoured youth he went,
And low to earth his head he bent.
With his own priest to lead the train,
He gave the gift high guests obtain.
And sought, with all who dwelt within
The city walls, his grace to win.
He fed him with the daintiest fare,
He served him with unceasing care,
And ministered with anxious eyes
Lest anger in his breast should rise;
And gave to be the Bráhman's bride
His own fair daughter, lotus-eyed.

1.9.30

arghyaṃ ca pradadau tasmai nyāyataḥ susamāhitaḥ
vavre prasādaṃ viprendrān mā vipraṃ manyur āviśet

1.9.31

antaḥpuraṃ praviśyāsmai kanyāṃ dattvā yathāvidhi
śāntāṃ śāntena manasā rājā harṣam avāpa saḥ

1.9.32

evaṃ sa nyavasat tatra sarvakāmaiḥ supūjitaḥ
ṛśyaśṛṅgo mahātejāḥ śāntayā saha bhāryayā

Thus loved and honoured by the king,
The glorious Bráhman Rishyas'ring
Passed in that royal town his life
With S'ántá his beloved wife.'