El Ramayana, Griffith tr.

With swarming myriads onward pressed
True to his lord Sugríva's hest;
And princely Ruman, dear to fame,
Led millions whom no hosts could tame,
All these and many a chief beside 1b
Came onward fierce in warlike pride.
They covered all the plain, and still
Pressed forward over wood and hill.
In rows for many a league around
They rested on the grassy ground;
Or to Sugríva made their way.
Like clouds about the Lord of Day,
And to the king their proud heads bent
In power and might preeminent.
Sugríva then to Ráma sped.
And raised his reverent hands, and said
That every chief from coast to coast
Was present with his warrior host.

Footnotes

370:1b The numbers are unmanageable in English verse. The poet speaks of hundreds of arbudas; and an arbuda is a hundred millions.

370:2b Anuhláda or Anuhráda is one of the four sons of the mighty Hiranyakasipu, an Asur or a Daitya son of Kasyapa and Diti and killed by Vishnu in his incarnation of the Man-Lion Narasinha. According to the Bhágavata Purána the Daitya or Asur Hiranyakasipu and Hiranyáksha his brother, both killed by Vishnu, were born again as Rávan and Kumbhakarna his brother.'

370:3b Putoma, a demon, was the father-in-law of Indra who destroyed him in order to avert an imprecation. Paulomit is a patronymic denoting Sachi the daughter of Puloma.

371:1 "Observe the variety of colours which the poem attributes to all these inhabitants of the different mountainous regions, some white, others yellow, &c. Such dif- ferent colours were perhaps peculiar and distinctive characteristics of those various races." GORRESSIO.

371:2 Sushen.

371:3 Tara.

371:4 Kesari was the husband of Hanumnán's mother, and is here called his father.

371:5 "I here unite under one heading two animals of p. 372 but which from some gross resemblances, probably helped by an equivoque in the language, are closely affiliated in the Hindoo myth.....a reddish colour of the skin, want of symmetry and ungainliness of form, strength in hugging with the fore paws or arms, the faculty of climbing, shortness of tail(?), sensuality, capacity of instruction in dancing and in music, are all characteristics which more or less distinguish and meet in bears as well as in monkeys In the Rámáyanam, the wise Jámnavant, the Odysseus of the expedition of Lanká, is called now king of the bears (rikshaparthivah), now great monkey (Mahákapih). DeGubernatis: Zoological Mythology, Vol. II. p. 97.

CANTO XL.: THE ARMY OF THE EAST.

With practiced eye the king reviewed
The Vánars' counties multitude,
And, joying that his hest was done,
Thus spake to Raghu's mighty son:
'See, all the Vánar hosts who fear
My sovereign might are gathered here.
Chiefs strong as Indra's self, who speed
Wher'er they list, these armies lead.
Fierce and terrific to the view
As Daityas or the Dánav 2b crew,

p. 372

Famed in all lands for souls afire
With lofty thoughts, they never tire,
O'er hill and vale they wander free,
And islets of the distant sea.
And these gathered myriads, all
Will serve thee, Ráma, at thy call.
Whate'er thy heart advises, say:
Thy mandates will the host obey.'
Then answered Ráma, as he pressed
The Vánar monarch to his breast:
'O search for my lost Sítá, strive
To find her if she still survive:
And in thy wondrous wisdom trace
Fierce Rávan to his dwelling-place.
And when by toil and search we know
Where Sítá lies and where the foe,
With thee, dear friend, will I devise
Fit means to end the enterprise.
Not mine, not Lakshman's is the power
To guide us in the doubtful hour.
Thou, sovereign of the *Vanars, thou
Must be our hope and leader now.'
He ceased: at King Sugríva's call
Near came a Vánar strong and tall.
Huge as a towering mountain, loud
As some tremendous thunder cloud,
A prince who warlike legions led:
To him his sovereign turned and said:
'Go, take ten thousand  1 of our race
Well trained in lore of time and place,
And search the eastern region; through
Groves, woods, and hills thy way pursue,
There seek for Sítá, trace the spot
Where Rávan hides, and weary not.
Search for the captive in the caves
Of mountains, and by woods and waves.
To Surjú, 2 Kauá*ikí, 3 repair,
Bhagírath's daughter 4 fresh and fair.
Search mighty *Yámun's 5 peak, explore
Swift Yamu*ná's 6 delightful shore,
Sarasvati 7 and Sindhu's 8 tide,

And rapid S'ona's 1b pebbly side.
Then roam afar by Mahí's 2b bed
Where Kálamahí's groves are spread.
Go where the silken tissue shines,
Go to the land of silver mines. 3b
Visit each isle and mountain steep
And city circled by the deep,
And distant villages that high
About the peaks of Mandar lie.
Speed over Yavadwipa's land, 4b
And see Mount S'is'ir 5b proudly stand
Uplifting to the skies his head
By Gods and Dánavs visited.
Search each ravine and mountain pass,
Each tangled thicket deep in grass.
Search every cave with utmost care
If haply Ráma's queen be there.
Then pass beyond the sounding sea
Where heavenly beings wander free,
And S'ona's 6b waters swift and strong
With ruddy billows foam along.
Search where his shelving banks descend,
Search where the hanging woods extend
Try if the pathless thickets screen
The robber and the captive queen.
Search where the torrent floods that rend
The mountain to the plains descend:
Search dark abysses where they rave,
Search mountain slope and wood and cave
Then on with rapid feet and gain
The inlands of the fearful main
Where, tortured by the tempest's lash,
Against rude rocks the billows d*ash:
An ocean like a sable cloud,
Whose margent monstrous serpents crowd;

p. 373

An ocean rising with a roar
To beat upon an iron shore.
On, onward still! your feet shall tread
Shores of the sea whose waves are red,
Where spreading wide your eyes shall see
The guilt-tormenting cotton tree  1
And the wild spot where Garud  2 dwells
Which gems adorn and ocean shells,
High as Kallása, nobly decked,
Wrought by the heavenly architect.  3
Hnge giants named Mandehas  4 there
In each foul shape they love to wear,
Numbing the soul with terror's chill,
Hang from the summit of the hill.
When darts the sun his earliest beam
They plunge them in the ocean stream,
New vigour from his rays obtain,
And hang upon the rocks again
Speed onward still: your steps shall be
At length beside the Milky Sea
Whose everv ripple as it curls
Gleams glorious with its wealth of pearls.
Amid that sea like pale clouds spread
The white Mount Rishabh  5 rears his head.
About the mountain's glorious waist
Woods redolent of bloom are braced.
A lake where lotuses unfold
Their silver buds with threads of gold,
Sudar*s'an ever bright and fair
Where white swans sport, lies gleaming there,
The wandering Kinnar's  6 dear resort,
Where heavenly nymphs and Yakshas  7 sport.

On! leave the Milky Sea behind:
Another flood your search shall find,
A waste of waters, wild and drear.
That chills each living heart with fear.
There see the horse's awful head,
Wrath-born, that flames in Ocean's bed. 1b
There rises up a fearful cry
From the sea things that move thereby,
When, helpless, powerless for flight,
They gaze upon the horrid sight.
Past to the northern shore, and then
Beyond the flood three leagues and ten
Your wondering glances will behold
Mount Játarúpa  2b bright with gold.
There like the young moon pale of hue
The monstrous serpent  3b will ye view,
The earth's supporter, whose bright eyes
Resemble lotus leaves in size.
He rests upon the mountain's brow,
And all the Gods before him bow.
Ananta with a thousand heads
His length in robes of azure spreads.
A triple-headed palm of gold--
Meet standard for the lofty-souled--
Springs towering from the mountain's crest
Beneath whose shade he loves to rest,
So that in eastern realms each God
May use it as a measuring-rod.
Beyond, with burning gold aglow,
The eastern steep his peaks will show,
Which in unrivalled glory rise
A hundred leagues to pierce the skies,
And all the neighbouring air is bright
With golden trees that clothe the height.
A lofty peak uprises there
Ten leagues in height and one league square
*Saumanas*, wrought of glistering gold,
Ne'er to be loosened from its hold.
There his first step Lord Vishnu placed
When through the universe he paced,
And with his second lightly pressed
The loftiest peak of Meru's crest.
When north of Jambudwíp  4b the sun

p. 374

A portion of his course has run.
And hangs above this mountain height,
Then creatures see the genial light.
Vaikhánases, 1 saints far renowned,
And Bálaklulvas, 2 love the ground
Where in their glory half divine.
Touched by the morning glow, they shine
The light that flashes from that steep
Illumines all Sudars'andwip, 3
And on each creature, as it glows,
The sight and strength of life bestows.
Search well that mountain's woody side
If Rávan there his captive hide.
The rising sun, the golden hill
The air with growing splendours fill,
Till flashes from the east the red
Of morning with the light they shed.
This, where the sun begins his state,
Is earth and heaven's most eastern gate.
Through all the mountain forest seek
By waterfall and cave and peak.
Search every nook and bosky dell,
If Rávan there with Sítá dwell.
There, Vánars, there your steps must stay:
No farther eastward can ye stray.
Beyond no sun, no moon given light,
But all is sunk in endless night.
Thus far, O Vánar lords, may you
O'er sea and land your search pursue.
But wild and dark and known to none
Is the drear space beyond the sun.
That mountain whence the sun ascends
Your long and weary journey ends. 4
Now go, and in a month return,
And let success my praises earn,
He who beyond tho month shall stay
Will with his life the forfeit pay.'

Footnotes

ÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌ1b:1b Gandhamádana, Angad, Tára, Indrajánu, Rambha, Durmukha, Hanumán, Nala, Da mukha, S'arabha, Kumuda, Vahni.

ÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌ2b:2b Daityas and Dánavas are fiends and enemies of the Gods, life the Titans of Greek mythology.

372:1 I reduce the unwieldy numbers of the original to more modest figures.

372:2 Sarayú now Sarjú is the river on which Ayodhyá was built.

372:3 Kaus'iki is a river which flows through Behar, commonly called Kosi.

372:4 Bhagirath's daughter is Ganga or the Ganges. The legend is told at length in Book I. Canto XLIV The Descent of Gangá.

372:5 A mountain not identified.

372:6 The Jumna. The river is personified as the twin sister of Yama, and hence regarded as the daughter of the Sun.

372:7 The Sarasvatí (corruptly called Sursooty, is supposed to join the Ganges and Jumna at Prayág or Allahabad. It rises in the mountains bounding the north-east part of the province of Delhi, and running in a south-westerly direction becomes lost in the sands of the great desert.

372:8 The Sindhu is the Indus, the Sanskrit s becoming h in Persian and being in this instance dropped by the Greeks.

372:1b The Sone which rises in the district of Nagpore and falls into the Ganges above Patna.

372:2b Mahi* is a river rising in Malwa and falling into the gulf of Cambay after a westerly course of 280 miles.

372:3b There is nothing to show what parts of the country the poet intended to denote as silk-producing and silver-producing.

372:4b Yavadwipa means the island of Yava, wherever that may be.

372:5b S'is'ir is said to be a mountain ridge projecting from the base of Meru on the south. WILSON'S Vishnu Purána, ed. Hall, Vol. II. p. 117.

372:6b This appears to be some mythical stream and not the well-known Sone. The name means red-coloured.

373:1 A fabulous thorny rod of the cotton tree used for torturing the wicked in hell. The tree gives its name, Sálmali, to one of the seven Dwípas, or great divisions of the known continent: and also to a hell where the wicked are tormented with the pickles of the tree.

373:2 The king of the feathered creation.

373:3 Vis´vakarmá, the Muleiher of the Indian heaven.

373:4 "The terrific fiends named Mandehas attempt to devour the sun: for Brahmá denounced this curse upon them, that without the power to perish they should die every day (and revive by night) and therefore a fierce contest occurs (daily) between them and the sun."

WILSON'S Vishnu Purána. Vol.II. p. 250.

373:5 Said in the Vishnu Purána to be a ridge projecting from the base of Meru to the north.

373:6 Kinnars are centaurs reversed, beings with equine head and human bodies.

373:7 Yakshas are demi-gods attendant on "Ruyera"* the God of wealth.

373:1b Aurva was one of the descendants of Bhrigu From his wrath proceeded a flame that threatened to destroy the world, had not Aurva cast it into the ocean where it remained concealed, and having the face of a horse. The legend is told in the Mahábharat. I. 6*3*02.

373:2b The word Játarupa means gold.

373:3b The celebrated mythological serpent king Sesha, called also Ananta or the infinite, represented as bearing the earth on one of his thousand heads.

373:4b Jambudwípa is in the centre of the seven great dwípas or continents into which the world is divided, and in the centre of Jambudwípa is the golden p. 374 mountain Meru 84,000 yojans high, and crowned by the great city of Brahmá, Sse WILSON'S Vishnu Purána, Vol II, p. 110.

374:1 Vaikhánases are a race of hermit saints said to have sprung from the nails of Prajápati.

374:2 "The wife of Eratu, Samnnti, brought forth the sixty thousand Válakhilyas, pigmy sages, no bigger than a joint of the thumb, chaste, pious, resplendent as the rays of the Sun" WlLSOK'S Vishnu Purána.

374:3 The continent in which Sudarsan or Meru stands, i. e. Jambudwip.

374:4 The names of some historical peoples which occur in this Canto and in the Cantos describing the south and north will he found in the ADDITIONAL NOTES. They are bare lists, not susceptible of a metrical version.

CANTO XLI.: THE ARMY OF THE SOUTH.

He gathered next a chosen band
For service in the southern land.
He summoned Níla son of Fire,
And, offspring of the eternal Sire,
Jámbaván bold and strong and tall.
And Hanumán, the best of all,
And many a valiant lord beside, 1b
With Angad for their chief and guide.
'Go forth,' he cried, 'with all this host
Exploring to the southern coast:
The thousand peaks that Vindhya shows
Where every tree and creeper grows:
Where Narmadá's  2b sweet waters run,
And serpents bask them in the sun:
Where Krishnavení, 3b currents flee,
And sparkles fair Godávaií. 4b

Through Mekhal, 5b pass and Utkal's, 6b land:
Go where Das'árna's, 7b cities stand.
Avantí, 8b seek, of high renown,
And Abravanti's, 9b glorious town.
Search every hill and brook and cave
Where Dandak's woods their branches wave
Avomukh's, 10b woody hill explore
Whose sides are bright with richest ore,.
lifting his glorious head on high
From bloomy groves that round him lie.

p. 375

Search well his forests where the breeze
Blows fragrant from the sandal trees.
Then will you see Káverí's 1 stream
Whose pleasant waters glance and gleam,
And to the lovely banks entice
The sportive maids of Paradise.
High on the top of Malaya's 2 hill,
In holy musing, calm and still,
Sits, radiant as the Lord of Light,
Agastya, 3 noblest anchorite.
Soon as that lofty-thoughted lord
His high permission shall accord,
Pass Támraparní's 4 flood whose isles
Are loved by basking crocodiles.
The sandal woods that fringe her side
Those islets and her waters hide;
While, like an amorous matron, she
Speeds to her own dear lord the sea.
Thence hasting on your way behold
The Pándyas' 5 gates of pearl and gold.
Then, with your task maturely planned,
On ocean's shore your feet will stand.
Where, by Agastya's high decree,
Mahendra, 6 planted in the sea,
With tinted peaks against the tide
Rises in solitary pride,
And glorious in his golden glow
Spurns back the waves that beat below.
Fair mountain, bright with creepers' bloom
And every tint that trees assume,
Where Yaksha, God, and heavenly maid
Meet wandering in the lovely shade,
At changing moon and solemn tide
By Indra's presence glorified.
One hundred leagues in fair extent
An island 7 fronts the continent:
No man may tread its glitering shore
With utmost heed that isle explore,
For the fair country owns the sway
Of Rávan whom we burn to day.

A mighty monster stands to keep
The passage of the southern deep,
Lifting her awful arms on high
She grasps e'en shadows as they fly.
Speed through that isle, and onward still
Where in mid sea the Flowery Hill 1b
Haises on high his bloomy head
By saints and angels visited.
There, with a hundred gleaming peaks
Bright as the sun, the sky he seeks,
One glorious peak the Lord of Day
Gilds ever with his loving ray;
Thereon ne'er yet the glances fell
Of thankless wretch or infidel.
Bow to that hill in reverence due,
And then once more your search pursue.
Beyond that glorious mountain hie,
And Súryaván, 2b proud hill is nigh.
Your rapid course yet farther bend
Where Vaidyut's 3b airy peaks ascend.
There trees of noblest sort, profuse
Of wealth, their kindly gifts produce.
Their precious fruits, O Vánars, taste,
The honey sip, and onward haste.
Next will ye see Mount Kunjar rise,
Who cheers with beauty hearts and eyes.
There is Agastya's 4b mansion, decked
Bv heaven's all moulding architect.
Near Bhogavatí 5b stands, the place
Where dwell the hosts of serpent race:
A broad-wayed city, walled and barred,
Which watchful legions keep and guard,
The fiercest of the serpent youth,
Each awful for his venomed tooth:
And throned in his imperial hall
Is Vásuki 6b who rules them all.
Explore the serpent city well,
Search town and tower and citadel,
And scan each field and wood that lies
Around it, with your watchful eyes.
Beyond that spot your way pursue:
A noble mountain shall ye view,
Named Rishabh, like a mighty bull,
With gems made bright and beautiful.

p. 376

All trees of sandal flourish there
Of heavenly fragrance, rich and rare.
But, though they tempt your longing eyes,
Avoid to touch them, and be wise.
For Rohitas, a guardian band
Of fierce Gandharvas, round them stand,
Who five bright sovereign lords 1 obey,
In glory like the God of Day.
Here by good deeds a home is won.
With shapes like fire, the moon, the sun.
Here they who merit heaven by worth
Dwell on the confines of the earth.
There stay; beyond it, dark and drear,
Lies the departed spirits' sphere,
And, girt with darkness, far from bliss,
Is Yama's sad metropolis. 2
So far, my lords, o'er land and sea
Vour destined course is plain and free.
Beyond your steps you may not set,
Where living thing ne'er journeyed yet.
With utmost care these realms survey,
And all you meet upon the way.
And, when the lady's course is traced,
Back to your king, O Vánars, haste.
And he who tells me he has seen.
After long search, the Maithil queen,
Shall gain a noble guerdon: he
In power and bliss shall equal me.
Dear as my very life, above
His fellows in his master's love;
I call him, yea though stained with crime.
My kinsman from that happy time.'

Footnotes

374:1b Suhotra, S'arári, S'aragulma, Gain, Gavák-ha, Gavaya, Sushena, Gandhamádana, Ulkámukha, and Ananga.

374:2b The modern Nerbudda.

374:3b Krishnavení is mentioned in the Vishnu Purnna as 'the deep Krishnaven' '* but there appears to be no clue to its identification.

374:4b The modern Godavery.

374:5b The Mekbaias or Mekalas according to the Patánas live in the Vindhya hills, but here they appear among the peoples of the south.

374:6b Utkal is still the native nameof Oriss*.

374:7b The land of the people of the 'ten forts.' Professor Hall in a note on WlL.- SONS Vishnu Purana, Vol. II. p.160 says: "The oral traditions of the vicinity to this day assign the nameof Dasarna to a region lying to the east of the District of Cbundeyree."

374:8b Avantí is one of the ancient names of the celebrated Ujjayin or Oujein in Central India.

374:9b Not identified

374:10b Ayemukh means iron faced. The mountun is not identified.

375:1 The Káverí or modern Cauvery is well known and has always borne the same appellation, being the Chaberis of Ptolemy.

375:2 One of the seven principal mountain chains: the southern portion of the Western Gháts.

375:3 Agastya is the great sage who has already frequently appeared as Ráma's friend and benefactor.

375:4 Támraparni is a river rising in Malaya.

375:5 The Pándyas are a people of the Decean.

375:6 Mahendra is the chain of hills that extends from Orissa and the northern Sircars to Gondwána, part of which near Ganjam is still called Mahendra Malay or hills of Mahendra.

375:7 Lanká, Sinhaladvípa, Sarandib, or Ceylon,

375:1b The Flowery Hill of course is mythical.

375:2b The whole of the geography south of Lanká is of course mythical. Súryaván means Sunny.

375:3b Vaidyut means connected with lightning.

375:4b Agastya is here placed far to the south of Lanká. Earlier in this Canto he was said to dwell on Malaya.

375:5b Bhogavatí has been frequently mentioned: it is the capital of the serpent Gods or demons, and usually represented as being in the regions under the earth.

375:6b Vásuki is according to some accounts the king of the Nágas or serpent Gods.

CANTO XLII.: THE ARMY OF THE WEST.

Then to Sushen Sugríva bent,
And thus addressed him reverent:
'Two hundred thousand of our best
With thee, my lord, shall seek the west.
Explore Suráshtra's 3 distant plain,
Explore Váhlíka's 4 wild domain,
And all the pleasant brooks that flee
Through mountains to the western sea.
Search clustering groves on mountain
heights,
And woods the whom of anchorites.
Search where the breezy hills are high,
Search where the desert regions lie.
Search all the western land beset

With woody mountains like a net.
The country's farthest limit reach,
And stand upon the ocean beach.
There wander through the groves of palm
Where the soft air is full of balm.
Through grassy dell and dark ravine
Seek Rávan and the Maithil queen.
Go visit Somagiri's 1b steep
Where Sindhu 2b mingles with the deep.
There lions, borne on swift wings, roam
The levels of their mountain home,
And elephants and monsters bear,
Caught from the ocean, to their lair.
You Vánars, changing forms at will.
With rapid search must scour the hill,
And his sky-kissing peak of gold
Where loveliest trees their blooms unfold.
There golden-peaked, ablaze with light,
Uprises Páriyátra's 3b height
Where wild Gandharvas, fierce and fell,
In bands of countless myriads dwell.
Pluck ye no fruit within the wood;
Beware the impious neighbourhood,
Where, very mighty, strong, and hard
To overcome, the fruit they guard.
Yet search for Janak's daughter still,
For Vánars there need fear no ill.
Near, bright as turkis, Vajra 4b named,
There stands a hill of diamond framed.
Soaring a hundred leagues in pride,
With trees and creepers glorified.
Search there each cave and dark abyss
By waterfall and precipice.
Far in that sea the wild waves beat
On Chakraván's 5b firm-rooted feet.
Where the great discus, 6b thousand rayed,
By Vísvakarmá's 7b art was made.
When Panchajan 8b the fiend was slain.
And Hayagríva, 9b fierce in vain,

p. 377

Thence taking shell and discus went
Lord Vishnu, God preeminent.
On sixty thousand hills of gold
With wondering eyes shall ye behold,
Where in his glory every one
Is brilliant as the morning sun.
Full in the midst King Meru, 1 best
Of mountains, lifts his lofty crest,
On whom of yore, as all have heard,
The sun well-pleased this boon conferred:
'On thee, O King, on thee and thine
Light, day and night, shall ever shine.
Gandharvas, Gods who love thee well
And on thy sacred summits dwell,
Undimmed in lustre, bright and fair,The golden sheen shall ever share.'
The Vis'vas, 2 Vasus 3 they who ride
The tempest, 4 every God beside,
Draw nigh to Meru's lofty crest
When evening darkens in the west,
And to the parting Lord of Day
The homage of their worship pay,
Ere yet a while, unseen of all,
Behind Mount Asta's  5 peaks he fall.
Wrought by the heavenly artist's care
A glorious palace glitters there,
And round about it sweet birds sing
Where the gay trees are blossoming:

The home of Varun  1b high souled-lord,
Wrist-girded with his deadly cord. 2b
With ten tall stems, a palm between
Meru and Asta's hill is seen:
Pure silver from the base it springs,
And far and wide its lustre flings.
Seek Rávanthe dame by brook,
In pathless glen, in leafy nook
On Meru's crest a hermit lives
Bright with the light that penance gives:
Sávarni  3b is he named, renowned
As Brahmá's peer, with glory crowned.
There bowing down in reverence speak
And ask him of the dame you seek.
Thus far the splendid Lord of Day
Pursues through heaven his ceaseless way,
Shedding on every spot his light;
Then sinks behind Mount Asta's height,
Thus far advance: the sunless sea
Beyond is all unknown to me.
Sushen of mighty arm, long tried
In peril, shall your legions guide,
Receive his words with high respect,
And ne'er his lightest wish neglect.
He is my consort's sire, and hence
Deserves the utmost reverence.'

Footnotes

376:1 S'ailúsha, Gramini, Siksha, Suka, Babhru.

376:2 The distant south beyond the confines of the earth is the home of departed spirits and the city of Yama the God of Death.

376:3 Suráshtra, the 'good country,' is the modern Surat.

376:4 A country north-west of Afghanistan, Baíkh

376:1b The Moon-mountain here is mythical.

376:2b Sindhu is the Indus.

376:3b Páriyátra, or as more usually written Páripátra, is the central or western portion of the Vindhya chain which skirts the province of Malwa.

376:4b Vajra means both diamond and thunderbolt, the two substances being supposed to be identical.

376:5b Chakraván means the discus-bearer.

376:6b The discus is the favourite weapon of Vishnu

376:7b The Indian Hephaistos or Vulcan.

376:8b Panchajan was a demon who lived in the sea in the form of a conch shell. WILSON'S Vishnu Pura'na,* V. 21.

376:9b Hayagríva,Horse-necked, is the name of a Daitya who at the dissolution of the universe caused by Brahmá's sleep, seized and carried off the Vedas. Vishnu slew him and recovered the sacred treasures.

377:1 Meru stands in the centre of Jambudwípa and consequently of the earth. "The sun travels round the world, keeping Meru always on his right. To the spectator who fronts him, therefore, as he rises Meru must be always on the north; and as the sun's rays do not penetrate beyond the centre of the mountain, the regions beyond, or to the north of it must be in darkness, whilst those on the south of it must be in light: north and south being relative, not absolute, terms, depending on the position of the spectator with regard to the Sun and Meru." WILSON'S Vishnu Pura'na, Vol. II. p. 243. Note.

377:2 The Vis'vadevas are a class of deities to whom sacrifices should be daily offered, as part of the ordinary worship of the householder. According to the Váyun Purána this is a privilege conferred on them by Brahmá and the Pitris as a reward for religious austerities practised by them upon Himálaya.

377:3 The eight Vasus were originally personifications like other Vedic deities, of natural phenomena, such as Fire, Wind, &c. Their appellations are variously given by different authorities.

377:4 The Maruts or Storm-Gods, frequently addressed and worshipped as the attendants and allies of Indra.

377:5 The mountain behind which the sun sets.

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

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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.

CANTO XLIV.: THE RING.

But special counselling he gave
To Hanumánwise and brave:

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To him on whom his soul relied,
With friendly words the monarch cried:
'O best of Vánarsght can stay
By land or sea thy rapid way,
Who through the air thy flight canst bend,
And to the Immortals' home ascend.
All realms, I ween, are known to thee
With every mountain, lake, and sea.
In strength and speed which naught can tire
Thou, worthy rival of thy sire
The mighty monarch of the wind,
Where'er thou wilt a way canst find.
Exert thy power, O swift and strong,
Bring back the lady lost so long,
For time and place, O thou most wise,
Lie open to thy searching eyes.'
When Ráma heard that special best
To Hanumáne the rest,
He from the monarch's favour drew
Hope of success and trust anew
That he on whom his lord relied,
In toil and peril trained and tried,
Would to a happy issue bring
The task commanded by the king.
He gave the ring that bore his name,
A token for the captive dame,
That the sad lady in her woe
The missive of her lord might know.
'This ring,' he said, 'my wife will see,
Nor fear an envoy sent by me.
Thy valour and thy skill combined,
Thy resolute and vigorous mind,
And King Sugríva's behest,
With joyful hopes inspire my breast.'

Footnotes

378:1b "The Uttara Kurus, it should be remarked, may have been a real people, as they are mentioned in the Altareya BráhmanaI. 14 ... "Wherefore the several nations who dwell in this northern quarter, beyond the Himavat, the Uttara Kurus and the Uttara Madras are consecrated to glorious dominion, and people term them the glorious. In another passage of the same work, however, the Uttara Kurus are treated as belonging to the domain of mythology." MUIR's Sanskrit Texts. Vol. I p. 494. See ADDITIONAL NOTES.

378:2b The Moon-mountain.

378:3b The Rudras are the same as the storm winds, more usually called Maruts, and are often associated with Indra. In the later mythology the Rudras are regarded as inferior manifestations of S'iva, and most of their names are also names of Siva.

CANTO XLV.: THE DEPARTURE.

Away, away the Vánars
Like locusts o'er the land outspread.
To northern realms where rising high
The King of Mountains cleaves the sky,
Fierce S'atabal with vast array
Of Vánariors led the way.
Far southward, as his lord decreed,
Wise Hanumán Wind-God's seed,
With Angad his swift way pursued,
And Tára's warlike multitude,
Strong Vinata with all his band
Betook him to the eastern land,
And brave Sushen in eager quest
Sped swiftly to the gloomy west.
Each Vánarftain sought with speed
The quarter by his king decreed,
While from his legions rose on high
The shout and boast and battle cry:
'We will restore the dame and beat
The robber down beneath our feet.
My arm alone shall win the day
From Rávanin single fray,
Shall rob the robber of his life,
And rescue Ráma's captive wife
All trembling in her fear and woe.
Here, comrades, rest: no farther go:
For I will vanquish hell, and she
Shall by this arm again be free.
The rooted mountains will I rend,
The mightiest trees will break and bend.
Earth to her deep foundations cleave,
And make the calm sea throb and heave.
A hundred leagues from steep to steep
In desperate bound my feet shall leap.
My steps shall tread unchecked and free.
Through woods, o'er land and hill and sea,
Range as they list from flood to fell,
And wander through the depths of hell.

CANTO XLVI.: SUGRÍVA'S.

'How, King,' cried Ráma, 'didst thou gain
Thy lore of sea and hill and plain?
'I told thee how,' Sugríva,
From Báli's arm Máyáví  1
To Malaya's hill, and strove to save
His life by hiding in the cave.
I told how Báli sought, to kill
His foe, the hollow of the hill;
Nor need I, King, again unfold
The wondrous tale already told.
Then, wandering forth, my way I took
By many a town and wood and brook.
I roamed the earth from place to place,
Till, like a mirror's polished face,
The whole broad disk, that lies between
Its farthest bounds, mine eyes had seen.
I wandered first to eastern skies
Where fairest trees rejoiced mine eyes,
And many a cave and wooded hill
Where lilies robed the lake and rill.
There metal dyes that hill  2 adorn
Whence springs the sun to light the morn.
There, too, I viewed the Milky sea,
Where nymphs of heaven delight to be.
Then to the south I made my way
From regions of the rising day,
And roamed o'er Vindhya, where the breeze
Is odorous of sandal trees.
Still in my fear I found no rest:
I sought the regions of the west,
And gazed on Asta,  3 where the sun

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Sinks when his daily course is run
Then from that noblest hill I fled
And to the northern country sped,
Saw Himavánt 1 and Meru'Meru'sp,
And stood beside the northern deep.
But when, by Báli's might oppressed,
E'en in those wilds I could not rest,
Came Hanumánwise and brave,
And thus his prudent counsel gave:
'I told thee how Matanga  2 cursed
Thy tyrant, that his head should burst
In pieces, should be dare invade
The precincts of that tranquil shade.
There may we dwell in peace and be
From thy oppressor's malice free.'
We went to Rishyamúka's,
And spent our days secure from ill
Where, with that curse upon his head,
The cruel Báli durst not tread.'

Footnotes

379:1 Canto IX.

379:2 Udayagiri or the hill from which the sun rises.

379:3 Asta is the mountain behind which the sun sets.

CANTO XLVII.: THE RETURN.

Thus forth in quest of Sitá
The legions King Sugríva.
To many a distant town they hied
By many a lake and river's side.
As their great sovereign's order taught,
Through valleys, plains, and groves they sought.
They toiled unresting through the day:
At night upon the ground they lay
Where the tall trees, whose branches swayed
Beneath their fruit, gave pleasant shade.
Then, when a weary month was spent,
Back to Prasravan's hill they went,
And stood with faces of despair
Before their king Sugrívae.
Thus, having wandered through the east,
Great Vinata his labours ceased,
And weary of the fruitless pain
Returned to meet the king again,
Brave S'atabali to the north
Had led his Vánarons forth.
Now to Sugríva he sped
With all his host dispirited.
Sushen the western realms had sought.
And homeward now his legions brought.
All to Sugriva came, where still
He sat with Ráma on the hill.
Before their sovereign humbly bent
And thus addressed him reverent:
'On every hill our steps have been,
By wood and cave and deep ravine;

And all the wandering brooks we know
throughout the land that seaward flow,
Our feet by thy command have traced
the tangled thicket and the waste,
and dens and dingles hard to pass
for creeping plants and matted grass
Well have we searched with toil and pain,
And monstrous creatures have we slain
But Hanumánoblest mind
The Maithil lady yet will find;
For to his quarter of the sky  1b
The robber fiend was seen to fly,'

Footnotes

380:1 Himálaya, the Hills of Snow.

380:2 Canto XI.

CANTO XLVIII.: THE ASUR'S DEATH.

But Hanumánl onward pressed
With Tára, Angad, and the rest,
Through Vindhya's pathless glens he sped
And left no spot unvisited.
He gazed from every mountain height,
He sought each cavern dark as night,
And wandered through the bloomy shade
By pool and river and cascade,
But, though they sought in every place,
Of Sitáthey found no trace.
On fruit and woodland berries fed
Through many a lonely wild they sped,
And reached at last, untouched by fear,
A desert terrible and drear:
A fruitless waste, a land of gloom
Where trees were bare of leaf and bloom
Where every scanty stream was dried,
And niggard earth her roots denied.
No elephants through all the ground,
No buffaloes or deer are found.
There roams no tiger, pard, or bear,
No creature of the wood is there.
No bird displays his glittering wings,
No tree, no shrub, no creeper springs.
There rise no lilies from the flood,
Resplendent with their flower and bud,
Where the delighted bees may throng
About the fragrance with their song.
There lived a hermit Kandu named,
For truth and wealth of penance famed.
Whom fervent zeal and holy rite
Had dowered with all-surpassing might.
His little son, a ten year child--
So chanced it--perished in the wild.
His death with fury stirred the sage,
Who cursed the forest in his rage,
Doomed from that hour to shelter none,
A waste for bird and beast to shun.

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