Valmiki Ramayana 5.17

5.17.1

tasminn eva tataḥ kāle rājaputrī tv aninditā
rūpayauvanasaṃpannaṃ bhūṣaṇottamabhūṣitam

Then o'er the lady's soul and frame
A sudden fear and trembling came,
When, glowing in his youthful pride,
She saw the monarch by her side.
Silent she sat, her eyes depressed,
Her soft arms folded o'er her breast,
And,--all she could,--her beauties screened
From the bold gazes of the fiend.
There where the wild she-demons kept
Their watch around, she sighed and wept.
Then, like a severed bough, she lay
Prone on the bare earth in dismay.
The while her thoughts on love's fleet wings
Flew to her lord the best of kings.
She fell upon the ground, and there
Lay struggling with her wild despair,
Sad as a lady born again
To misery and woe and pain,
Now doomed to grief and low estate,
Once noble fair and delicate:
Like faded light of holy lore,
Like Hope when all her dreams are o'er;
Like ruined power and rank debased,
Like majesty of kings disgraced:
Like woman *** led by erring slips,
The moon that labors in eclipse
A pool with all her lillies* dead
An army when its king has fled:
So sad and helpless wan and worn,
She lay among the fiends forlorn.

5.17.2

tato dṛṣṭvaiva vaidehī rāvaṇaṃ rākṣasādhipam
prāvepata varārohā pravāte kadalī yathā

Then o'er the lady's soul and frame
A sudden fear and trembling came,
When, glowing in his youthful pride,
She saw the monarch by her side.
Silent she sat, her eyes depressed,
Her soft arms folded o'er her breast,
And,--all she could,--her beauties screened
From the bold gazes of the fiend.
There where the wild she-demons kept
Their watch around, she sighed and wept.
Then, like a severed bough, she lay
Prone on the bare earth in dismay.
The while her thoughts on love's fleet wings
Flew to her lord the best of kings.
She fell upon the ground, and there
Lay struggling with her wild despair,
Sad as a lady born again
To misery and woe and pain,
Now doomed to grief and low estate,
Once noble fair and delicate:
Like faded light of holy lore,
Like Hope when all her dreams are o'er;
Like ruined power and rank debased,
Like majesty of kings disgraced:
Like woman *** led by erring slips,
The moon that labors in eclipse
A pool with all her lillies* dead
An army when its king has fled:
So sad and helpless wan and worn,
She lay among the fiends forlorn.

5.17.3

ūrubhyām udaraṃ chādya bāhubhyāṃ ca payodharau
upaviṣṭā viśālākṣī rudantī varavarṇinī

Then o'er the lady's soul and frame
A sudden fear and trembling came,
When, glowing in his youthful pride,
She saw the monarch by her side.
Silent she sat, her eyes depressed,
Her soft arms folded o'er her breast,
And,--all she could,--her beauties screened
From the bold gazes of the fiend.
There where the wild she-demons kept
Their watch around, she sighed and wept.
Then, like a severed bough, she lay
Prone on the bare earth in dismay.
The while her thoughts on love's fleet wings
Flew to her lord the best of kings.
She fell upon the ground, and there
Lay struggling with her wild despair,
Sad as a lady born again
To misery and woe and pain,
Now doomed to grief and low estate,
Once noble fair and delicate:
Like faded light of holy lore,
Like Hope when all her dreams are o'er;
Like ruined power and rank debased,
Like majesty of kings disgraced:
Like woman *** led by erring slips,
The moon that labors in eclipse
A pool with all her lillies* dead
An army when its king has fled:
So sad and helpless wan and worn,
She lay among the fiends forlorn.

5.17.4

daśagrīvas tu vaidehīṃ rakṣitāṃ rākṣasīgaṇaiḥ
dadarśa dīnāṃ duḥkhārtaṃ nāvaṃ sannām ivārṇave

Then o'er the lady's soul and frame
A sudden fear and trembling came,
When, glowing in his youthful pride,
She saw the monarch by her side.
Silent she sat, her eyes depressed,
Her soft arms folded o'er her breast,
And,--all she could,--her beauties screened
From the bold gazes of the fiend.
There where the wild she-demons kept
Their watch around, she sighed and wept.
Then, like a severed bough, she lay
Prone on the bare earth in dismay.
The while her thoughts on love's fleet wings
Flew to her lord the best of kings.
She fell upon the ground, and there
Lay struggling with her wild despair,
Sad as a lady born again
To misery and woe and pain,
Now doomed to grief and low estate,
Once noble fair and delicate:
Like faded light of holy lore,
Like Hope when all her dreams are o'er;
Like ruined power and rank debased,
Like majesty of kings disgraced:
Like woman *** led by erring slips,
The moon that labors in eclipse
A pool with all her lillies* dead
An army when its king has fled:
So sad and helpless wan and worn,
She lay among the fiends forlorn.

5.17.5

asaṃvṛtāyām āsīnāṃ dharaṇyāṃ saṃśitavratām
chinnāṃ prapatitāṃ bhūmau śākhām iva vanaspateḥ
malamaṇḍanadigdhāṅgīṃ maṇḍanārhām amaṇḍitām

Then o'er the lady's soul and frame
A sudden fear and trembling came,
When, glowing in his youthful pride,
She saw the monarch by her side.
Silent she sat, her eyes depressed,
Her soft arms folded o'er her breast,
And,--all she could,--her beauties screened
From the bold gazes of the fiend.
There where the wild she-demons kept
Their watch around, she sighed and wept.
Then, like a severed bough, she lay
Prone on the bare earth in dismay.
The while her thoughts on love's fleet wings
Flew to her lord the best of kings.
She fell upon the ground, and there
Lay struggling with her wild despair,
Sad as a lady born again
To misery and woe and pain,
Now doomed to grief and low estate,
Once noble fair and delicate:
Like faded light of holy lore,
Like Hope when all her dreams are o'er;
Like ruined power and rank debased,
Like majesty of kings disgraced:
Like woman *** led by erring slips,
The moon that labors in eclipse
A pool with all her lillies* dead
An army when its king has fled:
So sad and helpless wan and worn,
She lay among the fiends forlorn.

5.17.6

samīpaṃ rājasiṃhasya rāmasya viditātmanaḥ
saṃkalpahayasaṃyuktair yāntīm iva manorathaiḥ

Then o'er the lady's soul and frame
A sudden fear and trembling came,
When, glowing in his youthful pride,
She saw the monarch by her side.
Silent she sat, her eyes depressed,
Her soft arms folded o'er her breast,
And,--all she could,--her beauties screened
From the bold gazes of the fiend.
There where the wild she-demons kept
Their watch around, she sighed and wept.
Then, like a severed bough, she lay
Prone on the bare earth in dismay.
The while her thoughts on love's fleet wings
Flew to her lord the best of kings.
She fell upon the ground, and there
Lay struggling with her wild despair,
Sad as a lady born again
To misery and woe and pain,
Now doomed to grief and low estate,
Once noble fair and delicate:
Like faded light of holy lore,
Like Hope when all her dreams are o'er;
Like ruined power and rank debased,
Like majesty of kings disgraced:
Like woman *** led by erring slips,
The moon that labors in eclipse
A pool with all her lillies* dead
An army when its king has fled:
So sad and helpless wan and worn,
She lay among the fiends forlorn.

5.17.7

śuṣyantīṃ rudatīm ekāṃ dhyānaśokaparāyaṇām
duḥkhasyāntam apaśyantīṃ rāmāṃ rāmam anuvratām

Then o'er the lady's soul and frame
A sudden fear and trembling came,
When, glowing in his youthful pride,
She saw the monarch by her side.
Silent she sat, her eyes depressed,
Her soft arms folded o'er her breast,
And,--all she could,--her beauties screened
From the bold gazes of the fiend.
There where the wild she-demons kept
Their watch around, she sighed and wept.
Then, like a severed bough, she lay
Prone on the bare earth in dismay.
The while her thoughts on love's fleet wings
Flew to her lord the best of kings.
She fell upon the ground, and there
Lay struggling with her wild despair,
Sad as a lady born again
To misery and woe and pain,
Now doomed to grief and low estate,
Once noble fair and delicate:
Like faded light of holy lore,
Like Hope when all her dreams are o'er;
Like ruined power and rank debased,
Like majesty of kings disgraced:
Like woman *** led by erring slips,
The moon that labors in eclipse
A pool with all her lillies* dead
An army when its king has fled:
So sad and helpless wan and worn,
She lay among the fiends forlorn.

5.17.8

veṣṭamānām athāviṣṭāṃ pannagendravadhūm iva
dhūpyamānāṃ graheṇeva rohiṇīṃ dhūmaketunā

Then o'er the lady's soul and frame
A sudden fear and trembling came,
When, glowing in his youthful pride,
She saw the monarch by her side.
Silent she sat, her eyes depressed,
Her soft arms folded o'er her breast,
And,--all she could,--her beauties screened
From the bold gazes of the fiend.
There where the wild she-demons kept
Their watch around, she sighed and wept.
Then, like a severed bough, she lay
Prone on the bare earth in dismay.
The while her thoughts on love's fleet wings
Flew to her lord the best of kings.
She fell upon the ground, and there
Lay struggling with her wild despair,
Sad as a lady born again
To misery and woe and pain,
Now doomed to grief and low estate,
Once noble fair and delicate:
Like faded light of holy lore,
Like Hope when all her dreams are o'er;
Like ruined power and rank debased,
Like majesty of kings disgraced:
Like woman *** led by erring slips,
The moon that labors in eclipse
A pool with all her lillies* dead
An army when its king has fled:
So sad and helpless wan and worn,
She lay among the fiends forlorn.

5.17.9

vṛttaśīle kule jātām ācāravati dhārmike
punaḥ saṃskāram āpannāṃ jātam iva ca duṣkule

Then o'er the lady's soul and frame
A sudden fear and trembling came,
When, glowing in his youthful pride,
She saw the monarch by her side.
Silent she sat, her eyes depressed,
Her soft arms folded o'er her breast,
And,--all she could,--her beauties screened
From the bold gazes of the fiend.
There where the wild she-demons kept
Their watch around, she sighed and wept.
Then, like a severed bough, she lay
Prone on the bare earth in dismay.
The while her thoughts on love's fleet wings
Flew to her lord the best of kings.
She fell upon the ground, and there
Lay struggling with her wild despair,
Sad as a lady born again
To misery and woe and pain,
Now doomed to grief and low estate,
Once noble fair and delicate:
Like faded light of holy lore,
Like Hope when all her dreams are o'er;
Like ruined power and rank debased,
Like majesty of kings disgraced:
Like woman *** led by erring slips,
The moon that labors in eclipse
A pool with all her lillies* dead
An army when its king has fled:
So sad and helpless wan and worn,
She lay among the fiends forlorn.

5.17.10

sannām iva mahākīrtiṃ śraddhām iva vimānitām
prajñām iva parikṣīṇām āśāṃ pratihatām iva

Then o'er the lady's soul and frame
A sudden fear and trembling came,
When, glowing in his youthful pride,
She saw the monarch by her side.
Silent she sat, her eyes depressed,
Her soft arms folded o'er her breast,
And,--all she could,--her beauties screened
From the bold gazes of the fiend.
There where the wild she-demons kept
Their watch around, she sighed and wept.
Then, like a severed bough, she lay
Prone on the bare earth in dismay.
The while her thoughts on love's fleet wings
Flew to her lord the best of kings.
She fell upon the ground, and there
Lay struggling with her wild despair,
Sad as a lady born again
To misery and woe and pain,
Now doomed to grief and low estate,
Once noble fair and delicate:
Like faded light of holy lore,
Like Hope when all her dreams are o'er;
Like ruined power and rank debased,
Like majesty of kings disgraced:
Like woman *** led by erring slips,
The moon that labors in eclipse
A pool with all her lillies* dead
An army when its king has fled:
So sad and helpless wan and worn,
She lay among the fiends forlorn.

5.17.11

āyatīm iva vidhvastām ājñāṃ pratihatām iva
dīptām iva diśaṃ kāle pūjām apahṛtām iva

Then o'er the lady's soul and frame
A sudden fear and trembling came,
When, glowing in his youthful pride,
She saw the monarch by her side.
Silent she sat, her eyes depressed,
Her soft arms folded o'er her breast,
And,--all she could,--her beauties screened
From the bold gazes of the fiend.
There where the wild she-demons kept
Their watch around, she sighed and wept.
Then, like a severed bough, she lay
Prone on the bare earth in dismay.
The while her thoughts on love's fleet wings
Flew to her lord the best of kings.
She fell upon the ground, and there
Lay struggling with her wild despair,
Sad as a lady born again
To misery and woe and pain,
Now doomed to grief and low estate,
Once noble fair and delicate:
Like faded light of holy lore,
Like Hope when all her dreams are o'er;
Like ruined power and rank debased,
Like majesty of kings disgraced:
Like woman *** led by erring slips,
The moon that labors in eclipse
A pool with all her lillies* dead
An army when its king has fled:
So sad and helpless wan and worn,
She lay among the fiends forlorn.

5.17.12

padminīm iva vidhvastāṃ hataśūrāṃ camūm iva
prabhām iva tapodhvastām upakṣīṇām ivāpagām

Then o'er the lady's soul and frame
A sudden fear and trembling came,
When, glowing in his youthful pride,
She saw the monarch by her side.
Silent she sat, her eyes depressed,
Her soft arms folded o'er her breast,
And,--all she could,--her beauties screened
From the bold gazes of the fiend.
There where the wild she-demons kept
Their watch around, she sighed and wept.
Then, like a severed bough, she lay
Prone on the bare earth in dismay.
The while her thoughts on love's fleet wings
Flew to her lord the best of kings.
She fell upon the ground, and there
Lay struggling with her wild despair,
Sad as a lady born again
To misery and woe and pain,
Now doomed to grief and low estate,
Once noble fair and delicate:
Like faded light of holy lore,
Like Hope when all her dreams are o'er;
Like ruined power and rank debased,
Like majesty of kings disgraced:
Like woman *** led by erring slips,
The moon that labors in eclipse
A pool with all her lillies* dead
An army when its king has fled:
So sad and helpless wan and worn,
She lay among the fiends forlorn.

5.17.13

vedīm iva parāmṛṣṭāṃ śāntām agniśikhām iva
paurṇamāsīm iva niśāṃ rāhugrastendumaṇḍalām

Then o'er the lady's soul and frame
A sudden fear and trembling came,
When, glowing in his youthful pride,
She saw the monarch by her side.
Silent she sat, her eyes depressed,
Her soft arms folded o'er her breast,
And,--all she could,--her beauties screened
From the bold gazes of the fiend.
There where the wild she-demons kept
Their watch around, she sighed and wept.
Then, like a severed bough, she lay
Prone on the bare earth in dismay.
The while her thoughts on love's fleet wings
Flew to her lord the best of kings.
She fell upon the ground, and there
Lay struggling with her wild despair,
Sad as a lady born again
To misery and woe and pain,
Now doomed to grief and low estate,
Once noble fair and delicate:
Like faded light of holy lore,
Like Hope when all her dreams are o'er;
Like ruined power and rank debased,
Like majesty of kings disgraced:
Like woman *** led by erring slips,
The moon that labors in eclipse
A pool with all her lillies* dead
An army when its king has fled:
So sad and helpless wan and worn,
She lay among the fiends forlorn.

5.17.14

utkṛṣṭaparṇakamalāṃ vitrāsitavihaṃgamām
hastihastaparāmṛṣṭām ākulāṃ padminīm iva

5.17.15

patiśokāturāṃ śuṣkāṃ nadīṃ visrāvitām iva
parayā mṛjayā hīnāṃ kṛṣṇapakṣe niśām iva

5.17.16

sukumārīṃ sujātāṅgīṃ ratnagarbhagṛhocitām
tapyamānām ivoṣṇena mṛṇālīm aciroddhṛtām

5.17.17

gṛhītāmālitāṃ stambhe yūthapena vinākṛtām
niḥśvasantīṃ suduḥkhārtāṃ gajarājavadhūm iva

5.17.18

ekayā dīrghayā veṇyā śobhamānām ayatnataḥ
nīlayā nīradāpāye vanarājyā mahīm iva

5.17.19

upavāsena śokena dhyānena ca bhayena ca
parikṣīṇāṃ kṛśāṃ dīnām alpāhārāṃ tapodhanām

5.17.20

āyācamānāṃ duḥkhārtāṃ prāñjaliṃ devatām iva
bhāvena raghumukhyasya daśagrīvaparābhavam

5.17.21

samīkṣamāṇāṃ rudatīm aninditāṃ supakṣmatāmrāyataśuklalocanām
anuvratāṃ rāmam atīva maithilīṃ pralobhayām āsa vadhāya rāvaṇaḥ