The Ramayana-Bk IV-S 2- Canto XLIII.: The Army of The North
Nov 9, 2018 13:11:25 GMT 1
Post by Anne Terri on Nov 9, 2018 13:11:25 GMT 1
"GOD'S LIVING BIBLE ---- THE THIRD TESTAMENT ----- RESEARCH LIBRARY" ©*
THE RÁMÁYAN OF VÁLMÍKI
Translated into English Verse
BY
RALPH T. H. GRIFFITH, M. A.,
[(Ralph Thomas Hotchkin Griffith), b. 1826 d. 1906]
PRINCIPAL OF THE BENARES COLLEGE
London: Trübner & Co.
Benares: E. J. Lazarus and Co.
[1870-1874]
RAMAYANA-
BOOK IV
CANTO XLIII.: THE ARMY OF THE NORTH.
Forth went the legions of the west:
And wise Sugríva addressed
S'atabal, summoned from the crowd.
To whom the sovereign cried aloud:
'Go forth, O Vánarf, go forth,
Explore the regions of the north.
Thy host a hundred thousand be,
And Yama's sons 4b attend on thee.
With dauntless courage, strength, and skill
Search every river, wood, and hill.
Through every land in order go
Right onward to the Hills of Snow.
Search mid the peaks that shine afar,
In woods of Lodh and Deodár. 5b
Search if with Janak's daughter, screened
By sheltering rocks, there lie the fiend
p. 378
The holy grounds of Soma tread
By Gods and minstrels visited.
Reach Kála's mount, and flats that lie
Among the peaks that tower on high.
Then leave that hill that gleams with ore,
And fair Sudars'an's heights explore.
Then on to Devasakhát 1 hie.
Loved by the children of the sky.
A dreary land you then will see
Without a hill or brook or tree,
A hundred leagues, bare, wild, and dread
In lifeless desolation, spread.
Pursue your onward way, and haste
Through the dire horrors of the waste
Until triumphant with delight
You reach Kailása'stering height.
There stands a palace decked with gold,
For King Kuvera 2 wrought of old,
A home the heavenly artist planned
And fashioned with his cunning hand.
There lotuses adorn the flood
With full-blown flower and opening bud
Where swans and mallards float, and gay
Apsarases 3 come down to play.
There King Vaisravan's 4 self, the lord
By all the universe adored,
Who golden gifts to mortals sends,
Lives with the Guhyakas 5 his friends.
Search every cavern in the steep,
And green glens where the moonbeams sleep.
If haply in that distant ground
The robber and the dame be found.
Then on to Krauncha's hill, 6 and through
His fearful pass your way pursue:
Though dark and terrible the vale
Your wonted courage must not fail.
There through abyss and cavern seek,
On lofty ridge, and mountain peak.
On, on! pursue your journey still
By valley, lake, and towering hill.
Reach the North Kurus' land, where rest
The holy spirits of the blest;
Where golden buds of lilies gleam
Resplendent on the silver stream,
And leaves of azure turkis throw
Soft splendour on the waves below.
Bright as the sun at early morn
Fair pools that happy clime adorn,
Where shine the loveliest flowers on stems
Of crystal and all valued gems.
Blue lotuses through all the land
The glories of their blooms expand,
And the resplendent earth is strown
With peerless pearl and precious stone.
There stately trees can scarce uphold
The burthen of their fruits of gold,
And ever flaunt their gay attire
Of flower and leaf like flames of fire.
All there sweet lives untroubled spend
In bliss and joy that know not end,
While pearl-decked maidens laugh, or sing
To music of the silvery string. 1b
Still on your forward journey keep,
And rest you by the northern deep,
Where springing from the billows high
Mount Somagiri 2b seeks the sky,
And lightens with perpetual glow
The sunless realm that lies below.
There, present through all life's extent,
Dwells Brahmá Lord preeminent,
And round the great God, manifest
In Rudra 3b forms high sages rest.
Then turn, O Vánarsrch no more,
Nor tempt the sunless, boundless shore.'
Forth went the legions of the west:
And wise Sugríva addressed
S'atabal, summoned from the crowd.
To whom the sovereign cried aloud:
'Go forth, O Vánarf, go forth,
Explore the regions of the north.
Thy host a hundred thousand be,
And Yama's sons 4b attend on thee.
With dauntless courage, strength, and skill
Search every river, wood, and hill.
Through every land in order go
Right onward to the Hills of Snow.
Search mid the peaks that shine afar,
In woods of Lodh and Deodár. 5b
Search if with Janak's daughter, screened
By sheltering rocks, there lie the fiend
p. 378
The holy grounds of Soma tread
By Gods and minstrels visited.
Reach Kála's mount, and flats that lie
Among the peaks that tower on high.
Then leave that hill that gleams with ore,
And fair Sudars'an's heights explore.
Then on to Devasakhát 1 hie.
Loved by the children of the sky.
A dreary land you then will see
Without a hill or brook or tree,
A hundred leagues, bare, wild, and dread
In lifeless desolation, spread.
Pursue your onward way, and haste
Through the dire horrors of the waste
Until triumphant with delight
You reach Kailása'stering height.
There stands a palace decked with gold,
For King Kuvera 2 wrought of old,
A home the heavenly artist planned
And fashioned with his cunning hand.
There lotuses adorn the flood
With full-blown flower and opening bud
Where swans and mallards float, and gay
Apsarases 3 come down to play.
There King Vaisravan's 4 self, the lord
By all the universe adored,
Who golden gifts to mortals sends,
Lives with the Guhyakas 5 his friends.
Search every cavern in the steep,
And green glens where the moonbeams sleep.
If haply in that distant ground
The robber and the dame be found.
Then on to Krauncha's hill, 6 and through
His fearful pass your way pursue:
Though dark and terrible the vale
Your wonted courage must not fail.
There through abyss and cavern seek,
On lofty ridge, and mountain peak.
On, on! pursue your journey still
By valley, lake, and towering hill.
Reach the North Kurus' land, where rest
The holy spirits of the blest;
Where golden buds of lilies gleam
Resplendent on the silver stream,
And leaves of azure turkis throw
Soft splendour on the waves below.
Bright as the sun at early morn
Fair pools that happy clime adorn,
Where shine the loveliest flowers on stems
Of crystal and all valued gems.
Blue lotuses through all the land
The glories of their blooms expand,
And the resplendent earth is strown
With peerless pearl and precious stone.
There stately trees can scarce uphold
The burthen of their fruits of gold,
And ever flaunt their gay attire
Of flower and leaf like flames of fire.
All there sweet lives untroubled spend
In bliss and joy that know not end,
While pearl-decked maidens laugh, or sing
To music of the silvery string. 1b
Still on your forward journey keep,
And rest you by the northern deep,
Where springing from the billows high
Mount Somagiri 2b seeks the sky,
And lightens with perpetual glow
The sunless realm that lies below.
There, present through all life's extent,
Dwells Brahmá Lord preeminent,
And round the great God, manifest
In Rudra 3b forms high sages rest.
Then turn, O Vánarsrch no more,
Nor tempt the sunless, boundless shore.'
Footnotes
377:1b One of the oldest and mightiest of the Vedic deities; in later mythology regard ed as the God of the sea.
377:2b The knotted noose with which he seizes and punishes transgressors.
377:3b Sávarni Manu, Manuspring of the Sun by Chháyá.
377:4b The poet has not said who the sons of Yama are.
377:5b The Lodhra or Lodh (Symplocoa Racemosa) and the DevadárueodaDeodar are well known trees.
378:1 The hills mentioned are not identifiable. Soma means the Moon. Kála, black; Sudaras'an, fair to see; and Devasakhá friend of the Gods
378:2 The God of Wealth.
378:3 The nymphs of Paradise.
378:4 Kuvera the son of Vis'ravas.
378:5 A class of demigods who, like the Yakshas, are the attendants of Kuvera, and the guardians of his treasures.
378:6 Situated in the eastern part of the Himálaya chain, on the north of Assam. The mountain was torn asunder and the pass formed by the War-God Kártikeya and Paras'uráma.
Next: The Ramayana-Book IV-Sec 2-Canto XLIV.: The Ring.
The Ramayana (/rɑːˈmɑːjənə/; Sanskrit: रामायणम्, Rāmāyaṇam [rɑːˈmɑːjəɳəm]) is an ancient Indian epic poem which narrates the struggle of the divine prince Rama to rescue his wife Sita from the demon king Ravana. Along with the Mahabharata, it forms the Hindu Itihasa.
The epic, traditionally ascribed to the Hindu sage Valmiki, narrates the life of Rama, the legendary prince of the Kosala Kingdom. It follows his fourteen-year exile to the forest from the kingdom, by his father King Dasharatha, on request of his second wife Kaikeyi. His travels across forests in India with his wife Sita and brother Lakshmana, the kidnapping of his wife by Ravana, the demon king of Lanka, resulting in a war with him, and Rama's eventual return to Ayodhya to be crowned king.
There have been many attempts to unravel the epic's historical growth and compositional layers; various recent scholars' estimates for the earliest stage of the text range from the 7th to 4th centuries BCE, with later stages extending up to the 3rd century CE. Wikipedia
“God / Brahman Speaking To Anne Terri Through The Holy Spirit: Today is August 25, 2018, and I have Asked Anne to begin to place The Ramayana within Our Research Library, for future links to research areas within. AMEN”
*© NOTICE OF ATTRIBUTION
Scanned at sacred-texts.com by John B. Hare. OCRed and Proofed at Distributed Proofing, Juliet Sutherland, Project Manager. Post-processing, computer programming, and additional proofreading by John B. Hare at sacred-texts.com. This text is in the public domain. These files may be used for any non-commercial purpose provided this notice of attribution is left intact.
Note: This verse translation by Griffith...was scanned in 2000 from an original copy, which had very poor typesetting. Due to the difficulty of converting this 600 page text to etext, the project was put on hold for several years until OCR technology matured. Finally in 2003, the text was OCR-ed and proofed at Distributed Proofing. However, despite best efforts, there are several places in this text where the proofing was difficult or impossible. These are indicated by asterisks or (illegible). We are in the process of cleaning up these issues and hope to have a definitive version of this text at some point. In the meantime we hope you enjoy this epic, which is one of the most popular tales of Indian mythology.
Scanned at sacred-texts.com by John B. Hare. OCRed and Proofed at Distributed Proofing, Juliet Sutherland, Project Manager. Post-processing, computer programming, and additional proofreading by John B. Hare at sacred-texts.com. This text is in the public domain. These files may be used for any non-commercial purpose provided this notice of attribution is left intact.
Note: This verse translation by Griffith...was scanned in 2000 from an original copy, which had very poor typesetting. Due to the difficulty of converting this 600 page text to etext, the project was put on hold for several years until OCR technology matured. Finally in 2003, the text was OCR-ed and proofed at Distributed Proofing. However, despite best efforts, there are several places in this text where the proofing was difficult or impossible. These are indicated by asterisks or (illegible). We are in the process of cleaning up these issues and hope to have a definitive version of this text at some point. In the meantime we hope you enjoy this epic, which is one of the most popular tales of Indian mythology.