THE RAGHUVAMSA
THE
RAGHUVAMSA
THE STORY
OF RAGHU'S LINE
BY KALIDASA
TRANSLATED BY
P. DE LACY JOHNSTONE
PREFATORY NOTE
The Introduction tells
the story of the poet and
the poem. For the
Mythological Notes which follow,
and which I hope will
help English readers, I ask
the special indulgence
of Scholars. A Note on
Pronunciation is
added. The Index is intended only
to supplement very
shortly the Mythological Notes.
For the Illustrations
which embellish my book I am
indebted to the kind
permission of Miss Growse, of
Thursby Hall,
Haslemere, Surrey. These are diminished
reproductions of works
by native Indian artists,
prepared at great
expense for her brother, the late
Mr. Growse, CLE., of
the Bengal Civil Service, to
adorn his valuable and
scholarly translation of the
Hindi Rdmdyana^ which
may be called the Sacred
Book of North-Western Bengal. Mr. Growse's early
death is a loss to
Indian scholarship that will not
easily be repaired.
INTRODUCTION
Kalidasa is little
more than a name. There hangs over his
personal history that
mist of time and distance which seems
to enwrap all things
historical in the early life and thought of
Ancient India. But his
work is with us,—more of it probably
than of any other
great Sanskrit author; and he must always
have a special
interest for us, as the translation in 1781 of
his drama Qdkuntala by
Sir William Jones gave the first
impulse to the study
of that wonderful literature of old India
which has
revolutionised philology, and has had very great
influence in modifying
our thoughts in the political domain also
towards our Indian
fellow-subjects. The pretty legend that
made him one of the
" nine gems " at the polished Court of a
Vikramaditya reigning
in the age of Roman Augustus has
vanished before later
research, but the charms of his tender
Dramas, and of his
noble Epics, abide with us.
Kalidasa lived
probably about the middle of the sixth
century of our era,
but beyond this we know nothing of him
personally. His fame
is perennial, as that of India's
greatest
dramatist, and the
greatest epic poet of her classical days.
With the noble
simplicity of the Ramdyana his work does not
come into comparison ;
but in respect of true poetic feeling
for the aspects of
nature, and insight into both the manly
and the tender moods
of human emotion, he stands very
high among the great
poets of all lands and ages. That he
xii RAGHUVANgA
fell in his epics
occasionally into the snares laid for him by
the technical
perfection of classical Sanskrit, and played with
words and sounds in a
way that seems frivolous to us, should
not blind us to his
great and varied excellence. Nor should
we forget how very
much less he has done this than any other
of the famous
classical poets of India.
Bharavi in the
Ktratarjumya and
Bhatta in his poem shows us what temptations
Kalidasa resisted, and
will make us more highly value
the self-restraint he
has shown in this matter of artificiality.
As I have said, his
Dramas are supreme in Indian
literature,^which
indeed is not rich in that province,
considering the nature
of the people, who seem apt for
such branches of
literary activity. But the beauties of
(^akuntala and the
Ring and of The Hero and the
Nymph have long been
before the European and particularly
the English public,
and I need not dilate on them. Among
his own countrymen,
however, Kalidasa is at least equally
renowned as an epic
poet of the classical period, which extends
over several
centuries. There are different lists of the Six
"great
poems"—Maha-Kavyas ; but all name two {Kumarasambhava^
the Birth of the
War-God Kartikeya, and
Raghuvan^a, the Story
of Raghu's Line) of Kalidasa's among
them ; and one that is
well accredited would include a third,
the graceful
Cloud-Messenger, in the short roll of fame. The
poem which I have here
translated is by far the most
esteemed of them all.
It is a storehouse of poetry and
legend, while the
varied metres and exquisitely beautiful
language lend it in
the original a charm that cannot be
transferred into
another tongue. It has long been a wonder
to me that no one has
hitherto done for it what Mr. Griffiths
has so well done for
its companion, the Birth of the War(
INTRODUCTION^ Xlll
God, especially as it
appears (from Stenzler's Preface, p. ii.)
that the greater part
of the poem had been already translated
into English before
the work of editing it was given to him.
But name and fame of
the translator seem to have vanished,
nor have I been able
to find any further trace of them.
And here I must
acknowledge my debt to the great scholar
just named. While I
have used for my work the best native
editions of the poem,
with constant reference to the Sanskrit
commentators, I have
always derived the greatest help from
Stenzler's Latin
translation : without it, indeed, my own
would probably not
have been undertaken. I must here
add also, what only
lately came to my knowledge, that Mr.
Griffiths has made
(but not published) what he calls, in his
Notes to the
translation of the whole Ramdyana, a " rough "
translation of the
Raghuvanca. He adds that fragments of
it have appeared in
print, but I have not seen them.
The Poem as we have it
is certainly incomplete. Tradition
tells us that in its
original form it consisted of twenty-five I
Cantos, of which only
nineteen have come down to us ; and
the abrupt ending of
the poem confirms the tradition.
Its theme is the
glories of the great Solar race of Ikshvaku,
in which Vishnu was
pleased to become incarnate as Rama,
that he might destroy
the giant Ravana, who had his capital
in Ceylon (Lanka), and
might free gods and men from his
tyranny. This
supremacy Ravana had won, supplanting
Indra, the Thunderer,
chief among the Gods inferior to the
great Three (Brahma,
Vishnu, Civa,—Creator, Preserver,
Destroyer), by the
power of his ascetic austerities, which
could, according to
Brahmanical notions, compel Fate.
When therefore his
yoke had become too hard to bear, when
xiv RAGHUVANgA
the Gods were banished
or made to serve him, they sought
the aid of Vishnu, who
heard their prayer and promised his
help. This he would
afford them by taking birth as a man,
in the noble kingly
line of Raghu ; for when Ravana asked
to be made
invulnerable, he had omitted to secure himself
against mere human
foes. In our poem Cantos i to ix
trace the fortunes of
Rama's four immediate predecessors,
from Dilipa to
Dagaratha; Cantos x to xv are occupied
with the story of Rama
himself,—from his wonderful birth,
through his noble
youth and manhood, his triumphant
marriage with Sita,
victory over Ravana, and happy reign,
till the time when he
shook off the veil of humanity and
returned to his
original glory as the Unconditioned God
;
and Cantos xvi to xix
carry on the tale of the Kings who
succeeded him to (as
we have it) a sad eclipse in the luxurious
Agnivarma.
THE STORY BRIEFLY TOLD
IN PROSE
(i) The poet makes
excuse for his rashness in attempting
such an arduous task
as that of celebrating the praises of this
famous line of Kings.
But he has been attracted by its very
magnitude. The race is
dazzling in its virtue and might, and
the great Valmiki has
trodden the path before him. In the
line sprang Dilipa,
pious King, who grew old, rich in the love
of his Queen
Sudakshina and the devotion of his happy
subjects, but not
blessed with a son to succeed him. So,
purifying himself and
casting off for a season the cares of
sovereignty, he goes
with his Queen to seek counsel and help
from the saintly
Vacishtha in his hermitage. After a pleasant
journey through lands
prosperous and smiling with the
INTRODUCTION xv
blessings of his rule,
where all good omens attend them on
the way, they reach
the peaceful hermitage. Their errand is
told, and the saint
points out the remedy for their sorrow.
The King had neglected
to pay due honour to the Holy Cow,
Surabhi, and must now
(with his Queen) lead an ascetic life
and pay all worship to
her offspring—the Saint's own Cow
—
until she be
propitiated, and grant him the desire of his
heart.
(2) And the days went
by. From early morning to dewy
eve the noble, patient
King assiduously tended the semi-divine
Cow—and at evening the
Queen welcomed them back, and
herself took up the
pleasant, hopeful task.
But one fateful day
the King had followed his charge up
the green slopes of
the Himalaya, and while he gazed on the
beauties of the scene,
secure that her own sanctity would protect
her from all harm, he
was startled by her agonised cry,
and in dismay saw her
prostrate under the paw of a fierce
lion. He fitted an
arrow to his bow, but could not draw it,
and found himself
powerless to help. The lion addressed him
in human voice, told
him he was set by Civa to guard a
favourite tree beloved
by Uma, that the Cow had trespassed
and had justly
forfeited her life, and bade him leave her to
her fate and himself
return, saving his own valuable life. But
the King would hear of
no desertion. He entreated that he
might save his honour
though he should lose his life, and
offered his own body a
ransom for that of his charge, that she
might go unharmed.
Then the magic scene rolled away : the
Cow praised his
devotion and promised him the boon he
sought, and the two
returned to the hermitage. The Queen
and her husband drank
the sacred milk, and were dismissed
in peace and gladness
to their own city.
xvi RAGHUVANCA
(3) Then in due time
the Queen bore to her husband a
fair son, delighting
all hearts and wearing from his birth the
signs of worth and
prosperity. His nurture in holy things
was intrusted to the
wisest Brahmans in the land, and he
richly rewarded their
care, whilst the King himself instructed
him in the arts of war
and the chase. Raghu was he called,
the vehement in battle,
and he grew up noble and generous,
the light of his
father's eyes and the hope of his kingdom.
Fully trained in all
sacred and kingly lore, he was raised to
association in his
father's dignity, and happily wedded to
noble princesses. And
Dilipa, having devolved on his son
the cares and honour
of the kingdom, set himself to perform
the long series of a
hundred sacrifices, which is crowned by
the great Offering of
the Horse, and raises the sacrificer to
the rank of Indra,
King of Heaven. The God, ever on the
watch to foil such
enterprise, stole away the destined victim :
and the Prince, to
whose care it had been committed, pursued
the aggressor. He
plied him first with vain entreaties,
and then boldly
attacked him. A terrible battle ensued
;
each inflicted wounds
on the other ; but at length the God,
moved by the courage
and devotion of the young hero,
relaxed his anger and
granted that, though the crowning
sacrifice might not be
accomplished, yet Dilipa should win
the prize of his
sacred acts, and mount to the throne of
Heaven. So Dilipa
forsook Earth and Raghu reigned
gloriously in his
stead.
(4) Raghu, being
seated on his father's throne, by his firm
but mild rule soon
took even a higher place in his people's
affections than his
father had held ; and the Fortune of the
kingdom, like a loving
bride, clung closely to him. Just
and valiant, he ruled
his people for a time in peace ; then,
I N T R O D U C T 1 N
xvii
nobly ambitious, he
set forth with a mighty and wellappointed
host on a career of
universal conquest. In the
mild autumn season,
when calm skies and pleasant days
invited him, and Earth
and Heaven rejoiced, he set forth.
Smiting down all foes,
he led his victorious army across great
rivers, over lofty
mountains, through pathless forests, to
the shores of ocean.
Then, having set up everywhere pillars
of victory, and
restored the vanquished kings to their thrones
as his vassals, the
hero returned to his capital, Ayodhya, and
there with magnificent
pomp, swelled by the infinite treasures
he had received in
tribute, and graced by the presence of
captive kings,
celebrated the gorgeous sacrifice which only a
Universal Conqueror
may offer !
(5) But the sacrifice
he had made involved the bestowal of
all his wealth in
alms, and at its close the Monarch was as
bare of earth's riches
as the meanest of his subjects, when
there came before him
an eminent Brahman, Kautsa, to ask
from his generosity
the fee required by his Preceptor
Varatantu. In gracious
words the king first inquired of the
welfare of the Saint
and all his dependants, and then the
purpose of his guest's
coming. The Brahman, seeing the
King had stripped
himself of all he possessed, was reluctant
to make an
unreasonable request ; but, being pressed, he
told his need. The
King invited him to stay for a little while
as his guest, and
himself prepared to start forth to obtain, by
force of arms, if
necessary, the almost boundless treasure
wanted, from Kuvera
the Lord of Wealth. But while he
slept, meaning to set
forth in the morning, the God poured
down, unconstrained,
into his palace courtyard riches untold
and unimagined. Then
ensued a contest of generosity. The
Brahman at first
refused to receive more than his Teacher's
fee, but was at length
persuaded by the generous King to
b
xviii RAGHUVANCA
take the whole ; then
he blessed him with the promise of a
glorious son to
continue his race, and departed. .
>J So to Raghu was
born a son, Aja, called after Brahma the
Uncreated, noble and
brave and gentle as himself, the
desire of aU eyes and
hearts. And when the Prince was
fully perfect in
wisdom and in arms, his father sent him to
Vidarbha, whither King
Bhoja had invited many a noble
King and Chief, that
his fair sister Indumati might choose
her husband from among
them. Aja marched with such
attendant army as befitted
his royal rank, and was
welcomed by King
Bhoja, having on the way secured a
friend in the demi-god
Priyamvada, whom he freed from
enchantment and who
gave him a magic spear whose virtues
could strike whole
armies with sleep. One night the Prince
slept before Vidarbha,
and in the morning was roused from
his slumbers by the
sweet voices of minstrels, hymning him
in soft lyrical
strains, which form one of the gems of the
poem.
(6) Then the Prince,
nobly attired, went to join the company
of suitor kings in the
lofty hall where Princess Indumati
was to make her
Maiden's Choice, of the lord of her love and
her life. Waiting her
entry, there sat round the hall on lofty
thrones an anxious
assemblage of all the most famous and
noble Chiefs of the
time, come from far and near to woo the
peerless Maid. To hide
their anxiety they trifled with their
garlands, their
jewels, their robes, or talked in whispers to one
another. Then, to the
sweet sounds of music, borne in a
litter, came fair
Indumati into the hall, and the eyes of all
were fixed on her. Her
guide, Sunanda, led her past the
Kings in their order,
eloquently praising each as the Princess
slowly passed along
the line. But neither the valiant and
INTRODUCTION xix
pious lord of Magadha,
nor he of Avanti, nor of Anga, nor
the mighty King of
AnQpa, before whom Ravana stooped and
who braved fierce
Paragu-Rama's axe ; nor devout Susheria,
who in beauty and
valour rivals the mighty Gods,—found
favour in her eyes.
And as she passed, each one, silently
rejected, felt the hue
of glad hope fade from his face,
shadowed by the gloom
of failure. Then she passed on, and
her guide commended to
her the King of Kalinga, lord of the
southern realm,
bordering on Ocean, where palm-trees wave
and spice-laden
breezes blow; and next the Pandu King,
friend of Indra, ally
even of mighty Ravana ; but neither of
those powerful Kings
won the Maiden's choice, and they too
passed into darkness,
" like wayside trees lit up but for a
moment by a
traveller's torch." Onward she went to Prince
Aja, and her choice
was no more doubtful. She heard his
praises, she saw his
noble beauty, and she cast over him the
wreath that proclaimed
her election, and the happy union
was welcomed with loud
acclaim !
(7) Then did King
Bhoja pass to the city, with his sister
and her chosen lover,
while the disappointed wooers followed
in their train. The
glad procession was welcomed with loyal
shouts of the
citizens, while their ladies looked on eagerly
from the lattices,
hastening—though dishevelled or but halfattired—
to see the goodly
sight. Next the grave marriage
ceremonies were
accomplished, hallowed by the witness of
Fire and hailed by all
onlookers as fortunate. Then the King
with lordly gifts
dismissed to their own places the suitor-kings,
who took their leave
with pleasant words, but with thoughts
of revenge in their
hearts.
So when Aja and his
bride on their homeward journey had
parted from Bhoja, the
banded Kings barred the way, to
XX RAGHUVANCA
carry off the bride.
But Aja, placing Indumati in safety,
boldly charged them,
and fierce battle was joined. Chariots
with chariots, horse
with horse, elephant with elephant, met
in deadly strife.
Heaven was obscured by the dust, and
earth flowed with
streams of blood. So swift came death
that the disembodied
warriors saw their lifeless trunks still
tottering on the
plain, as themselves mounted to heaven,
there to renew the
strife. The fortune, of battle wavered, and
Aja had more than once
to rally his yielding battalions. At
length, weary of
slaughter, the Prince used the magical
weapon given him by
his friend Priyamvada. At once the
foes were charmed into
sleep, the noise of battle was stilled,
the Prince wound his
horn to rally his forces, and at his
bidding blushing
Indumati set her foot on the necks of his
prostrate foes. So,
happy and triumphant, they returned to
Ayodhya, and were
welcomed by King Raghu.
(8) Thereafter, King
Raghu, rejoicing in his son's glory and
happiness, gave the
kingdom, to Aja, and himself prepared for
the life of austerity
and meditation with which the pious
Kings of the Sun-Race
make themselves fit to exchange earthly
for heavenly crowns.
But his son weeping besought him to
stay in the city, and
the loving King yielded. So the two
remained together, the
one by justice and wise counsel ruling
his subjects, winning
their love and fostering their well-being,
while they saw his
father live again in him ; but the other,
subduing all desire,
fixing his thoughts on the Supreme,
—
waited for the call to
heaven. When thus some years had
gone by, the father
passed to his rest, deeply mourned by
his son.
Now Indumati bore to
Aja a noble boy, and the clouds of
softened regret were
dispelled by a new delight, while Aja's life
INTRODUCTION xxi
budded forth in
wondrous fulness towards his son Da^aratha,
fated father of the
divine hero Rama.
But sorrow follows
joy. As one day the loving pair
sauntered through
their pleasant gardens, there fell on
Indumati's breast from
the sky a wreath of flowers, fallen
from the harp of the
Minstrel-Saint Narada, at touch of
which she paled and
fell dead. The King swooned, and on
recovering burst into
a passionate lament for the cruel loss.
" Why, O my
Beloved, hast thou so suddenly left me, whose
heart was all thine
own? Never wittingly did I aught to
displease thee, yet
without a word am I forsaken ! Let me
too die with thee. Yet
was Death kind to slay thee with
flowers ! O Love, how
couldst thou have the heart to leave
me, and our son, and
even the deer and trees thou hadst
tended ? All, all
mourn for thee. Ah, Beloved, I scarce can
think thee dead : the
breeze stirs thy hair and rustles through
thy dress. But thou
art gone from me for ever ! Counsellor,
Friend, Queen of my
heart and home, thou hast left me,
and what good is my
life now to me ? Nought more can I
do for thee. Thy fair
body must lie on the rough funeralpyre,
and I must drag on my
lonely life
! " Yet for his
people's sake the King
lived on, and bore himself nobly
though sorrowful. Duty
he performed, but joy was gone
from his life. The
counsels of his Saintly Preceptor, who
told him the true
story of his lost Indumati—a Nymph of
Heaven condemned for
former sin to a period of exile on
earth and now recalled
to her home—fell on unheeding ears.
For a few years he
endured ; then, committing the kingdom
to his son, he peacefully
departed, to be reunited for ever to
his beloved Indumati.
(9) Thereafter did
mighty Da^aratha rule in righteousness,
xxii RAGHUVANCA
just as Yama,
beneficient as Indra, terrible as the War-God.
He also subdued all
the Earth under him, made the Sacrifice
for Universal
Dominion, fought often side by side with Indra
against the Demons,
and raised his famous line to the
pinnacle of glory and
prosperity. Three noble princesses he
wedded—of Magadha,
Kogala, and Kekaya—with whom he
lived in unclouded
happiness, save that no son was born to
him.
So the years rolled
on. One fateful spring, when all the
world rejoiced in new
beauty, as the warmer Sun dispelled
the chill numbness of
winter, the King with his Queens went
forth to enjoy the
pleasures of that season of love. Earth
put on her robes of
fresh green, and the forest trees budded
and blossomed ; the
air was filled with the glad hum of bees
and the love-notes of
birds of varied plumage. Youths and
maidens rejoiced in
the spring-time of life and snatched the
bloom of the fleeting
hour, careless of the morrow. Lovers
decked their
mistresses with fresh flowers, and feasted them
with all that was
choicest, and the sounds of laughter or the
soft murmurs of love
were heard throughout the land. The
King, having drunk of
this cup of pleasure to the full, sought
the more manly
delights of the Chase, sport of Kings.
Through the forests
went he with his great bow, rejoicing in
his skill and might.
Watched by the eager eye of forestgods,
he smote the fierce
boars and lions but spared the
gentle deer ; breezes
fanned his cheek, and great trees lent
their shade. But one
morning, fresh from his fragrant
woodland couch, keen
for sport, he heard in the reeds of the
sacred river Tamasa a
gurgling sound as of an elephant
drinking. In his
eagerness he forgot the law forbidding a
king to slay an
elephant : his arrow is shot ; horrified he hears
INTRODUCTION xxiii
a human cry of pain,
and bursting through the reeds finds a
lad mortally wounded
with his water-jar beside him. The
boy, adopted son of a
saintly Ascetic, is borne by the sorrowing
King to his aged
parents, and honoured with due funeral
rites ; and the Hermit
lays on the penitent King the heavy
weird that his heart
too shall in old age be broken by the
loss of his son. Meekly
the King received the doom,
carrying with it the
promise of a son yet to be born. He
thanked the grieving
father, and returned, sorrowful yet in
hope, to his home.
(lo) But when many
years had rolled by, and the King
was aged, the Gods,
led by Indra, sought—in the fulness of
time—from the mighty
Vishnu rest and refuge from the
terrible oppression of
the Giant-Demon Ravana, the tenheaded
King of Lanka, who had
by his penitential austerities
won from the Creator
(Brahma) dominion over the Universe
and invulnerability
from all superhuman foes. Them the
Supreme favourably
received, and listened well-pleased to
their hymn of praise.
They hailed him Omnipotent, Allembracing,
the Substance from
which all other entities
proceed and into which
all are reabsorbed. " Passionless art
Thou and All-wise, yet
grantest to all their desires ; Changeless,
yet Author of all the
vicissitudes of existence ; Source
of Duty and Law, Lord
of Life and Death : Thyself untouched
by pain or sin, yet
All-pitiful for the sorrows and errors of
Thy creatures ! "
Then Almighty Vishnu, in a voice that rose
above the thunderous
roar of Ocean, on which he was seated,
promised that He
himself, becoming incarnate in! the heroline
of Dacaratha, would
slay the Oppressor and free Gods
and men from his
tyranny.
So, at the Sacrifice
which Dacaratha was offering, the mighty
xxiv RAGHUVANgA
God entered the milk
of the oblation : this the pious King
divided among his
three wives, who in due time bore four
noble sons—-Rama,
Bharata, Lakshman, and ^atrughna.
And the Princes grew
up, trained to all royal virtues and knit
together in brotherly
love, desired of all mankind, dear before
all things to their
father.
(ii) But, while they
were still boys, the Brahman Kaugika
claimed from the King
the help of Rama and Lakshman,
who were bound
together in special love, to guard his
sacrifice from
assaults of the Demons. So the Princes went
with him, welcomed and
helped on their way by all nature.
The Sage lightened the
road with legends of olden time, and
sustained them by his
magic powers. On the way Rama
slew the Demon Taraka,
and at the Saint's hermitage he
discomfited the
Demon-hosts, shot their leaders, and enabled
the Saint to perform
his long-obstructed Sacrifice.
Thus having proved
their valour, the princes went with
Kaugika to a great
Sacrifice which the King of Mithila had
made. On the way
favouring portents occurred, heartily
were they welcomed,
and Rama achieved the adventure of
^iva's Bow by bending
and even breaking it—task which had
baffled many famous
warriors—and so won for his bride
lovely Sita, the
mysterious daughter of King Janaka. On his
invitation Dagaratha
came with a gallant army to be present
at the marriage, when
Rama's brothers also were united to
fair brides, and after
due festivities he went home with his
sons and their
newly-wedded wives. But on the way they
were terrified by evil
omens. The wind was adverse, the sun
was darkened, jackals
howled : at last appeared awful Paragu-
Rama, with his dreaded
axe, sworn foe of the Warrior-Race,
whom twenty-one times
he had swept from the face of the
INTRODUCTION xxv
earth—beginning the
savage deed by slaying his own
mother, who belonged
to it. He taunted and defied his
namesake, whose name
and fame were equally a reproach to
him ; made light of
his adventure with ^iva's bow, and
offered him his own
huge weapon to bend. Rama, to whom
as Vishnu's bow it was
familiar, lightly grasped and bent it,
smiling the while. But
the glory of his foe paled before his,
the elder before the
later manifestation of the God; he
humbled himself,
embraced the offer to purchase pardon at
the expense of losing
that heaven which his arduous austerities
had won—and departed,
after blessing and praising his
Conqueror. Then in joy
and triumph Da^aratha and his
sons went home, amid
the plaudits of the heavenly host
rejoicing over Rama.
{12) Then the King,
having drunk life's pleasure-cup to
the full, prepared
(according to the wont of his noble race) to
establish Rdma on the
throne and himself to seek the
hermit's cell. All the
people rejoiced, but Rama himself
grieved. And now the
doom long-since pronounced was to
overtake the aged
King. His wife Kaikeyi, Bharata's mother,
who had once saved his
life when he was sore wounded,
claimed fulfilment of
a promise then made her of two boons,
—whatsoever she should
ask. She demanded the kingdom
for her own son
Bharata, and the banishment for fourteen
years of Rama. The
promise was fulfilled : Rama, with his
faithful wife and his
brother Lakshman, went into exile
;
Bharata, against his
own will, was seated on the throne ; and
the aged King, after a
short, sad term in the hermitage,
passed away. Bharata,
after duly performing the funeralrites,
followed Rama, and
vainly besought him to return and
take up his
birthright. But the Hero would not be persuaded,
xxvi RAGHUVANgA
till the years of his
exile should be complete, and to escape
further importunity
plunged into the great Southern forest.
Then began for Rama a
series of battles with the Rakshasas,
allies and kinsfolk of
the Demon-King of Lanka. He slew
Viradha, who attempted
to carry Sita away ; and he dreadfully
mutilated the terrible
Surpanakha, when she furiously
attacked him, frenzied
at rejection of her proffered love.
She fled for aid to
Ravana, and a great host came forth
against the two mighty
brothers. But Rama slew them with
his death-dealing
arrows, and only Silrpanakha escaped to
tell the tale in
Lanka. Ravana himself then took the field ;
he decoyed Rama away,
and carried off Sita to his island
fortress.
Rama disconsolate made
alliance with the great Monkey-
King Sugriva, whom he
restored to his throne ; and whose
general, Hanuman, Son
of the Wind, discovered and comforted
Sita in Lanka, and
brought back tidings to Rama.
The Hero then marched
south with his allies. By their aid
he built a causeway
over the strait to Lanka, and by it he
crossed to storm
Ravana's capital. A terrible battle was c--"
fought before the
walls. Apes and Giants performed'^
prodigies of valour.
Meghanada with his deadly lasso was'^~
slain, and so was the
terrible but slothful Kumbhakarna.'"^
Ravana himself came
forth to the battle, and nearly slew
Lakshman, when Rama
advanced against him, mounted on
Indra's war-chariot.
The champions encountered ; Gods
and Giants looked
anxiously on while the stupendous duel
raged : each put forth
his utmost valour against his foe : for
long the strife seemed
doubtful, and arrows flew thick and
fast between them. But
at last Rama smashed the Giant's
mighty club, smote off
his ten heads with unerring arrows,
INTRODUCTION xxvii
and laid the Oppressor
low. Then was he hailed with shouts
of joy by the Gods,
and celestial flowers were rained on his
head. Sita was
recovered, and Fire attested her stainless
purity ; Vibhishan,
whom happy fate had led to desert his
brother Ravana, was
crowned in the dead tyrant's stead ; and ^^
the joyful victor
turned his face homewards. J, ^^JuT^
(13) Then he travelled
with Sita in the magic car Push-
'^aka, which moved
through the air obedient to his will,
—
the while he called on
her to admire the varied loveliness of
sea and land over
which they passed. Ocean with its
monsters, its foaming
waves, its waterspouts ; the shore
fringed with sombre
betel and waving palm-forests ; the lofty
mountains, crowned
with clouds ; the cool, dark woods
through which he had
sought his lost bride ; the peaceful
hermitages of saintly
ascetics :—all he lovingly pointed out
to her, telling the
story (tender or terrible) of each. And as
they drew near the
place of their exile, he told her of the
grief in which he had
sought her, and how mute nature had
shared his sorrow and
helped his search. At length they
reached the noble
river Sarayii, which washes the walls of
Ayodhya, honoured as
divine by Raghu's race, whose banks
were studded with the
pillars that marked each the completion
of some great
Sacrifice. There was he met by Bharata
and his other
brothers, with the Chiefs of his allies. They
embraced one another,
and rejoiced at their meeting : and
Rama, the set term of
his exile having now expired, received
back the kingdom from
loyal, unselfish Bharata, and entered
Ayodhya in triumph.
(14) First of all the
brothers and Sita visited the widowed
Queens, to comfort
them in their bereavement, and were
specially tender to
remorseful Kaikeyi. The ceremonies of
xxviii RAGHUVANgA
consecration and
enthronement were observed with unexampled
splendour ; Rama and
Sita entered the city amid
the glad acclaims of
the whole people, and a reign of peace
and prosperity began.
Living happily with her Lord, Sita
soon gave signs that
she was about to become a mother, and
the glad King
redoubled his tenderness, and readily promised
to indulge her wish to
revisit the quiet hermitages by the
Godavari.
Now on a day the King
went up on his palace-roof, and
his heart swelled
within him as he marked the splendour of
his city, the richness
of her busy marts, the security and
happiness of her
citizens. He turned to a follower, and
asked what the people
said of him. The loyal servant
answered that in all
things they praised him, save for the
matter of the
Queen—whom he had taken back after long
sojourn in Ravana's
palace. Struck with horror at the
insinuated calumny,
after fierce struggle with himself, Rama
deemed it his duty to
put away his innocent Queen, rather
than the cloud of
reproach should rest on his line, hitherto
stainless. So he
summoned his brothers to counsel, told
them his decision, and
charged Lakshman to escort Sita to
the hermitage of
Valmiki, and leave her there. None dared
to remonstrate, and
Lakshman with heavy heart obeyed.
Sita innocently
rejoiced at her Lord's kindness, but on the
way—as she admired the
pleasant scenes and sounds,
—
unfavourable omens
roused her fears, and she prayed for her
Lord's welfare. But
when on their arrival at the hermitage,
Lakshman told her the
dreadful truth, at first she swooned
away. Then graciously
she forgave him his share in her
sorrow, sent loving
greetings to all her relations, and tender
words of farewell to
the King. The blame of her misery she
INTRODUCTION xxix
laid not to his
charge, but bewailed it as the punishment for
her own sin in a
former life ; she promised to endure her sad
life until his child
should be born, and vowed that then she
would devote herself
to penance and prayer, that in a future
existence they might
be reunited for ever. Then Lakshman
went back to Ayodhya,
and Sita entered the hermitage. The
trees shed their
blossoms, the deer ceased to feed and the
peacocks to dance, all
in mute sympathy with her. The
Poet-Saint Vdlmiki
welcomed her to the peace of his dwelling,
soothed her sorrows,
blamed her husband, and, for her
father's sake and her
own, blessed her and her future
offspring. So the pure
Queen lived on in hope and resignation
: but Rama in his
palace mourned her, and devoted himself
solely to the duties
of his rank, joy having passed from
his life.
(15) Thus Rama all
lonely ruled the world. Now there
came from Yamuna's
banks hermits to seek help against the
Rakshasa Lavana, who
troubled their sacrifices. The king gave
them as their champion
his younger brother Catrughna, who
after a terrible fight
slew the Giant and returned in triumph to
Ayodhya. But on his
homeward way he stopped at Valmiki's
hermitage, and that
same night Sita gave birth to twin sons,
Kuga and Lava. These
the Poet-Saint brought up, performing
for them all religious
rites, and teaching them the sweet strains
of the Epic of their
father, which he himself had made
{Ramayana)r Then did
Catrughna found the noble city of
Mathura, after which
he returned to Rama's court, where he
was lovingly received,
and where he told all his story, save the
birth of Sita's sons,
which the Saint had forbidden him to tell.
Now there came to
Rama's palace a Brahman, weeping for
his son who had died
untimely, and reproaching the King.
XXX RAGHUVANgA
Rama, all-pitiful,
promised him relief, and set out on his
celestial chariot to
compel Death to restore his prey. But a
warning voice told him
as he started that first he must root
out a grievous sin
which was being committed in the land.
This he found to be a
Ciidra, who was seeking to win Heaven
by the practice of
severe austerities, a thing forbidden by the
Law to his degraded
order. The King slew him with his own
hand, and by that
happy death the sin was wiped away and
the sinner passed to
Heaven. Then Rama returned, found
the Brahman rejoicing
over his son restored to hfe, and
received his grateful
blessings.
Rama now prepared to
celebrate with extraordinary
splendour the great
Horse-sacrifice. To it came all the
great Saints,
gathering from the regions of Earth and
Heaven ; and the
Rakshasas, formerly disturbers, were now
guardians of the rites
! With the rest came Valmiki, at
whose command Ku^a and
Lava went singing before the
King and the people,
melting them to tears when they heard
the sweet story of
Rama in the Poet's matchless verse. Then
were his sons made
known to Rama, and the Saint craved as
a boon that he should
take back his own true wife. Sita,
summoned by the Saint,
came forward, and solemnly prayed
that Earth would
proclaim her stainless and receive her to
her bosom. A chasm
opened, Earth appeared in glorious
form, clasped her pure
daughter to her breast, and vanished.
The King was hardly
restrained from a vain attempt to
recover her, but at
length submitted to Fate's decree.
Rama, having
established his brothers' sons in separate
kingdoms, now prepared
for the end. Death himself came
with a summons from
the Supreme, and the Divine Hero
returned to the repose
of that eternity which he had quitted
INTRODUCTION xxxi
for a time, to deliver
Gods and men from Ravana's tyranny.
And when he departed,
there followed him in one mighty
stream the dwellers in
Ayodhya ; and his faithful allies, the
Rakshasas and Monkeys,
bitterly bewailed his loss.
(i6) The sons of Rama
and his brothers ruled their various
realms in harmony, the
chief rank being given to Ku^a, who
dwelt in Ku^avati. But
one night, when all the palace was
still, he woke from
sleep, to see in his chamber the guardian
goddess of his
ancestral capital, Ayodhya, clad as a mourning
bride, who besought
him to return to her. She bewailed the
desolation of her
streets and palaces, where jackals howled
and spiders spread
their webs ; of the painted halls, where
now fierce lions
lurked; of the pleasant gardens, fallen a
prey to apes ; of the
river-banks, where once fair women
bathed and now wild
buffaloes wallowed. Her houses were
fallen into decay,
grass grew on the roofs, and no fires burned
on the hearths. So the
King promised to return to her, his
ministers approved,
and on a propitious day he set out. His
host was like a moving
city, with its multitude of chariots
and horses, its
mountainous elephants, its forest of flagstaffs.
He crossed Ganges,
adoring the sacred stream, and came to
Saraytl, hard by his
own city. He restored the buildings,
worshipped the Gods in
their temples, and established himself
in the ancient capital
of his race.
Then came the grievous
heats of summer, when scarcely
even the rich could
escape from misery. The King with all
the ladies of the
palace went forth to bathe in the cool water
of Sarayu. There they
played, delighting in the pleasant
cold, splashing one
another and the King, floating and
dancing, displaying
all their charms. But when the King
left the water, he
found he had lost a precious bracelet, the
xxxii RAGHUVANCA
gift of his father
Rama. Fishermen searched the river, but in
vain. They told the
monarch of a Serpent-King who dwelt
below the water, and
had perhaps stolen it. Armed with his
bow the King repaired
to the bank, when at once there
appeared the Naga,
with his fair sister Kumudvati, who when
playing at ball had
seized the glittering bracelet as it fell.
The bracelet was
restored, and the appeased Kuga took
Kumudvati to wife,
thus forming an alliance auspicious to
the Worlds.
(17) To Kuga Kumudvati
bore a son Atithi, whom his
father trained in all
noble nurture ere he fell in battle with a
Demon ; Kumudvati
followed him in death, and Atithi
reigned in his stead.
Him did Brahmans and ministers unite
to consecrate King,
stablishing him on an ivory throne in a
new-built palace. When
duly anointed he lavished gifts on
the priests and set
all his captives free. Fair in form, by his
beauty and winning
ways he made all hearts his own ; his
royal state was as
Vishnu's, his palace a second Paradise.
Pious to the Gods,
terrible in war, careful and just in administration,
was he—and his kingdom
flourished. Truthful and
generous, resisting
all temptation, trampling on the allurements
of sense, tempering
severity with mercy, he struck the
roots of his Kingship
deep in the hearts of his subjects.
Carefully dividing his
time, he daily held his council and
watched both friends
and foes. Boldly he attacked, but
guarded his own realm
well ; nor by over-confidence did he
put himself in the
power of any. Riches he gathered as
reserve of power and
fostered his army therewith ; commerce
he protected, and
religion ; using power or policy as best
served. Mighty,
generous, modest—all bowed before his
throne ; his subjects
adored, and the Gods favoured him.
^
INTRODUCTION xxxiii
(i8) To him his Queen,
Nishada's princess, bore a famous
son, Nishiidha, who
sat on the throne when Atithi passed to
heaven. When
Nishadha's glorious rule was ended fiery
Nala reigned, and
after him mild, virtuous Pundarika. Then
valiant Devanika came
and after him magnanimous Ahinagas
—lofty-souled, skilled
to discern the thoughts of men. Next
^ila succeeded, and
Ku^a and Unnabha ; Vajranabha,
^ankhana, Dhushita^va,
Vi^vasaha, Hiranyanabha, pleasant
Kau^alya, mighty
Putra, Paushya, and peaceful Dhruvasandhi
—Polar Star among
Kings, slain untimely in the chase.
But when Dhruvasandhi
died his son Sudargana was but a
child. Him the council
installed, prince of high promise and
mighty heart, whose
dignity and grace delighted his people.
Kings bowed before
him, eloquent of speech, and earth
rested in peace under
the shadow of his boyish arm. Apt
was he to learn, soon
mastering the arts of wisdom and war
;
and when he grew to
man's estate he wedded a lovely bride
who bore him a fair
son, Agnivarma.
(19) Now when Prince
Agnivarma was of age, his father
placed him on the
throne, and himself retired to the hermit's
cell. For some few
years Agnivarma endured the cares of
royalty ; but then,
fearing no foreign foes, he gave himself up
entirely to sensual
pleasure, nor recked of his people's
welfare. Wasting his
life in ignoble pursuits, lavishing his
strength in vicious
indulgence, heeding no counsel—he consumed
away before his time,
unblest with offspring. But his
sage ministers,
hastily and secretly performing his obsequies,
honoured the widowed
Queen as regent and performed the
ceremonies of
inauguration for her unborn son.
(So abruptly closes
the Poem in its present state.)
NOTES MYTHOLOGICAL AND
EXPLANATORY
In orthodox Hindu
cosmogony Brahma is the Supreme Soul.
All that exists
proceeds from Him. In Him exists no will
nor anything that (to
human apprehension) indicates soul.
But at determined
periods—Kalpas—Brahma becomes energetic
in the forms of the
three Supreme Gods of Hindu
mythology—Brahma,
Vishnu, and ^iva. At the end of
these world-periods,
whatsoever exists—Gods, men, all living
creatures, and all
matter—is reabsorbed in Brahma, who goes
to sleep again for an
equal period. But the object of each
individual soul is to
free itself from the chain of births within
the world-age and be
reabsorbed in Brahma, so losing
individual being and
responsibility. In our poem Vishnu is
identified, and made
co-extensive with Brahma.
The function of
Brahma, performed either directly, or
through the
Prajapatis, "fathers of living souls," ends with
creation, except that
He is represented as granting the boons
won by asceticism. To
him therefore no altars rise and no
worship is paid.
Vishnu, the Preserver, is the chief God of
adoration in the
world, and to him incarnate as Rama the
whole poem looks. Nine
times has he been incarnate in
the current
World-Age—a period of stupendous length,
430,000,000,000 years
for a Day of Brahma, divided into four
MYTHOLOGICAL NOTES
xxxv
Ages, of which each is
less long and more vicious than that
which preceded it,
gradually sinking from primeval goodness ;
and a tenth Descent in
human form (Avatar) remains to
come, before all shall
be reabsorbed, and the Dvine shall go
to sleep again.
Vishnu's first four
incarnations or Descents (Avatars) took
place in the first,
the most perfect. Age ; the three that
succeeded, of which
the last was the divine Hero of our
poem, in the second ;
the eighth and most complete,
Krishna, in the third
Age ; whilst the last and most evil,
and also the shortest,
boasts of two, the Buddha and Kalki,
who is yet to come.
Each of the four Ages, corresponding
in some sort to the
Golden, Silver, Copper, and Iron Ages
of Classic Mythology,
is preceded and succeeded by a
" twilight "
equal in length to one-tenth of the period to which
it belongs. But of
what happens during these minor periods
of rest we know
nothing. In each succeeding Age the Great
Sages, usually
reckoned as Seven and sometimes identified
with the stars of the
Great Bear, come again into being and
activity ; apparently
they live through the World-Age, as does
Vagishtha, the great
spiritual Director (Guru) of Ikshvaku's
line, Ikshvaku being
himself the son of Manu, the seventh
of the great
succession of Manus, of whom Hindu mythological
chronology numbers
fourteen.
This seventh Manu has
the Sun for his father, and is himself
the progenitor of the
mighty Solar line of Kings. A Manu
presides throughout
the whole of a Kalpa or Great Yuga,
which is thence called
also a Manu-period or Manvantara.
Until the individual
soul by pious meditation and abstraction
frees itself from the
chain of individuality, it remains subject
to the laws of
transmigration, and is born in successive states
xxxvi RAGHUVAN^A
of existence—higher or
lower, happy or miserable, according
to the deeds done in
the body. These previous births constitute
Fate, as determining
the course of Hfe in subsequent
existences.
In the human sphere
the Creator placed on earth four
orders of
men—Brahmans, Kshatriyas, Vaigyas, and Cudras :
Priests, Warriors,
Husbandmen, Slaves. The three former
are bound by common
rites and duties, admitted to common
privileges ; but the
last is a slave, and may not attempt to
rise higher. On the
other hand, it will be seen that whereas
the earlier Rama is a
Brahman, the second (and mightier)
is a Kshatriya; and
the Mythology tells of more than one
Vai^ya, who was both
Saint and King. Throughout the
poem the extraordinary
supremacy of the Brahman is insisted
on. Gods and Kings
alike tremble before his curse, and
alike seek his aid
against calamity. The chief duty of Kings
and heroes is to
protect the Brahmans in the performance of
their sacrifices, and
Ravana's guilt lies at least as much in his
obstruction of their
rites as in his oppression of the worlds.
Now, while men are on
earth, their lives are by Brahmanical
rule divided into four
stages—those of student, householder,
recluse, and ascetic :
in the poem the last two seem to merge
into one. It was the
duty of a boy of the three upper classes
to spend the years
between childhood and maturity in the
study of the Vedas and
other sacred lore : when perfect therein
he was permitted and
ivas bound to marry and have a household
of his own. When he
had a son to carry on his line,
he was free to consult
his own future happiness by withdrawing
himself from the
world, and by meditation on the
Supreme fitting
himself for that union with Brahma which is
the final goal. But
most awful consequences awaited the
MYTHOLOGICAL NOTES
xxxvii
man who had left no
son to succeed him : the ghosts of his
ancestors would be in
misery : and he himself could never
escape from the dread
round of transmigration. (This is
how the matter is
presented to us, though if the ancestors
in succession had
attained—as Raghu's line did—to union
with Brahma, one does
not see how they could be affected by
failure of the line ;
cf. in. 26. It may be noticed too that the
expedient of adoption
is not contemplated.)
Inferior to the three
Great Gods are many less mighty, in
their origin
elemental,—of whom the chief is Indra, the
thundering god of the
sky, who has won his place by performing
a hundred sacrifices,
and may be supplanted by any
one who does the like
(see C. in.) Indra too has been the
champion of the Gods
against the Demons, and he has drunk
the Nectar produced by
the Churning of Ocean with Mount
Mandara for the churning-stick,
which gave the gods strength
to overcome their
foes. He has a hundred eyes, drives seven
bay horses, and is
lord of the thunder ; the rainbow is his
bow, and he clipped
the wings of the mountains when they
threatened heaven in
their flight. His wife is Cachi, his son
Jayanta, and his
special heaven Svarga, on Mount Meru ; his
followers are the
Maruts or wind-gods. According to one
legend Vishnu is his
younger brother, both being sons of
Aditi. Agni is god of
fire ; Yama, of death and of justice
;
Kuvera, of w^ealth,
his followers being the Yakshas, his home
(and Vishnu's) Kailasa
; lastly, Varuna, of the waters.
In the earthly life
each individual in his student-stage
chooses as preceptor
in Sacred Lore a Brahman, his Guru,
whom he is bound to venerate
far beyond his natural father,
and to whom he would
seek on all occasions of special need.
Such is Vacishtha to
the whole Sun-descended Kingly line.
xxxviii RAGHUVANCA
The Brahmans, as we
find them in the poem, live for the
most part in little
separate communities, in groves by sacred
rivers, where they
perform their sacrifices and lead holy,
peaceful lives. They
have their wives and children about
them, live in huts,
and wear robes of bark ; their enemies
the Rakshasas trouble
their rites ; and when Kings
have solemn
festivals—births, marriages, funerals, or other
solemnities—they
gather to them, and are graced with rich
gifts.
The Rakshasas are
spirits of evil. Of terrible aspect,
feasting on raw flesh,
delighting in darkness, able to assume
varied shapes at will,
they trouble the holy rites of the pious.
Their King was Ravana,
whose brother was Kumbhakarna,
his son Meghanada or
Indrajit, slain by Lakshman, his sister
S<irpanakha.
A King is imaged as
having wedded the Earth, loving and
protecting his realm
as a bridegroom his bride. Also, Royal
State is represented
as his bride, the Fortune or Luck of the
Kingdom ; sometimes
she is figured as jealous of his human
bride (as of Sita).
The special insignia of royalty are the
umbrella and the
yak-tail whisks or fans (Chamari). When
the heir comes to
manhood, he is usually installed as Yuvaraja
or associate-King.
The elephant is a
favourite subject of comparison, for
dignity and strength,
and also for the peculiar sweet-scented
liquid that exudes
from his temples in the season of lovepassion
(mada). Among plants
the lotus or water-lily takes
chief place,—for its
two species, distinguished by the fact that
the one opens up to
the rays of the moon and closes during
the day, while the
other expands to the sun and remains closed
at night. There is
frequent allusion also to the phosphoresMYTHOLOGICAL
NOTES xxxix
cent plants, specially
flourishing on Himalaya, which shine
through the darkness
as though the setting sun had left his
light with them.
File is thought
specially pure ; it ministers at the sacrifice,
and pervades all
nature, abiding even in the sea (which, perhaps,
is its
phosphorescence). The dead are consumed on the
pyre, but perfect
ascetics are buried : and Rama also buries
the Rakshasas.
The Law under which
all are set is the Code of the first Manu,
—divine progenitor of
the whole human race. This Code was
revealed by Bhrigu,
son of the Creator, and is a Smriti or
derivative sacred
book, the authority on which it rests being
the Cruti, or Heard
Revelation,—the Veda. That Code,
which in its present
form was probably composed in the third
century a.d., is a
mine of information on the orthodox
Brahmanical system.
The perfect King orders himself by
Manu's precepts, the
cosmogony of the poem is his, and his,
above all, is the
exalted position of the Brahman, whether as
Preceptor (Guru),
Sacrificer, Ascetic, or Counsellor. From
his Law-book too are
derived the ceremonies which consecrate
the royal children,
and the studies that fit them for their high
position. There also
are found the rules that regulate the
solemn ceremonies of
the Qraddha^ those sacrifices to departed
Ancestors that were so
imperatively incumbent on
every Hindu, and the
duty of which made a son the object of
such fervent desire.
[These sacrifices to the spirits of the
dead probably point to
an earlier stage of belief than most
which we find
prevailing among Hindus.]
As three of Vishnu's
incarnations are prominently brought
before us in the poem,
it may be interesting to give a catalogue
of them all.
xl RAGHUVANCA
I St. The Fish—when he
saved Manu and the seven Risbis
in the great Deluge,
and rescued theVedas from
destruction {cf. xiii.
20).
2nd. The Tortoise—when
in that form he allowed the
gods to pivot on his
back the Mountain Mandara,
with which they
churned the Ocean to obtain the
Nectar to strengthen
them against the Demons
(Asuras).
3rd. The Boar—when on
his mighty tusk he raised up the
solid earth above the
waste of waters.
4th. The Man-lion—when
he tore to pieces the Demon
Hiranyakagipu, who was
oppressing the world, in
defence of his son
Prahlada, a devout worshipper
of Vishnu.
5th. The Dwarf—who
saved the world from the tyranny of
Bali. Approaching him
at the end of a great
sacrifice, he obtained
as a boon the grant of as much
space as he could
cover in three strides ; then rising
to his own Divine
proportions, with the first stride
he covered earth, with
the second heaven {cf. xvi.,
"Vishnu's second
stride"), and with the third he
crushed Bali down to
Patala, the region of semidivine
snakes below the
earth.
6th. Rama with the
Axe, Paragu-Rama, son of Jamadagni,
descended from Bhrigu
(hence Bhdrgava). He
came to earth to
deliver from the Demon Arjuna,
King of the Haihayas,
who provoked his death at
Rama's hands by
stealing his father's cow. Arjuna's
death was avenged by
his sons on Jamadagni, and
MYTHOLOGICAL NOTES xH
then did Rama in his
fury, twenty-one times in succession,
sweep away the
generations of the Warrior
Class. In obedience to
his father he had already
slain his own mother Renuka,
for having entertained
impure thoughts. But
when his father, delighted at
his obedience, granted
him whatever he should ask,
he obtained her
restoration to life and pristine
purity, the revocation
of curses laid on his brothers,
and for himself the
highest renown as a warrior.
7th. Rama Chandra—the
Rama of our poem, incarnate for
the destruction of
Ravana.
8th. Krishna—the most
popular form of all Vishnu's
earthly
manifestations. In him the whole God is
said to have come
down, whereas in the others He
came only in part.
Krishna is the Divine Hero of
the Mahabharata, as
Rama is of the Ramayana,
He was born in a
humble home, for the destruction
of Ci^upala. His
worship is the most widespread of
any in India at the
present day, and the god is a
compound (one may say)
of Hercules and Cupid.
9th. Gautama the
Buddha—though this is by no means
undisputed. This
manifestation is said to have been
made to restore
religion to pristine purity. The
inclusion of the
arch-heretic among the Avatars of
Vishnu is a masterpiece
of Brahmanical craft.
loth, and last, is the
Descent of Vishnu as Kalki, which is
still to come, when
the earth—at length full of all
evil and
lawlessness—is to be restored for a while to
primeval innocence,
before the end of the Age and
the Great Dissolution
(Maha-Pralaya).
xlii RAGHUVANgA
Vishnu's special
weapon is the Quoit (Chakra) ; he rides on
Garuda, King of birds,
foe of snakes, his constant attendant
;
he wears the jewel
Kaustubha, won from Ocean at its Churning,
and his breast is
marked by a sacred curl, the Crivatsa.
His wife is Lakshmi,
and in the intervals of his activity he
slumbers on the waters
seated on a lotus.
The Svayamvara, the
maiden's choice of her bridegroom, is
a great feature in
both Sanskrit Epics—those of Sita and
Indumati in the story
of Rama, and of Draupadi in the Mahabharata.
It points to a freedom
of choice by the women of
India which has now
been curtailed or abolished, probably
through the influence
of Mohammedan modes of thought.
Mount Himalaya has a
divine character. From his slopes
comes the sacred
Ganga, and on his peaks did the god Civa
perform his arduous
austerities. His daughter was Uma,
specially Parvati,
daughter of the mountain, who by her
austerities won the
love of Civa and became thereby the
mother of Kartikeya
(so called "from his six nurses, the
Kritikas, now the
Pleiades in heaven), born among the reeds
of Skanda—leader of
the armies of the gods. [See the
Kuviarosambhava?[ She
is invoked with ^iva at the beginning
of the poem.
For the ordinary daily
sacrifice were needed—ist, the
butter-oblation, havis
(ghi)—clarified butter—laid on the holy
fire ; 2nd, the Kuca
grass, a scented grass still much esteemed
in India,—Khas-Khas.
The greatest of all
sacrifices was that of the Horse—the
AQvamedha—being the final
one of a series of a hundred, the
accomplishing of which
would raise the sacrificer to the rank
of Indra. For this
final sacrifice it was necessary that the
horse chosen as the
victim should have been free to range
MYTHOLOGICAL NOTES
xliii
where he would for a
full year before he was offered up. So
was the victim carried
off by Civa, when Sagara tried to complete
his series of
sacrifices, and so also by Indra when Dilipa
attempted it,—and
Raghu attacked the god. (C. in.).
(j^iva, the third of
the Great Gods, is the Destroyer. With
five heads, and in the
principal one three eyes, he rides
—
clothed with a
tiger-skin—on the bull Nandi. He wields the
Trident and a mighty
bow, bears on his brow the crescent
moon ; his neck is
blue from the effect of drinking the poison
produced at Ocean's
Churning ; and on his breast hangs a
chaplet of human
skulls. In one of his life-stages his wife
was Sati, one of the
daughters of Daksha. But Daksha
slighted both by not
inviting them to a great sacrifice he
made. Sati in wrath
leaped into the altar-fire and destroyed
the ceremony, and Civa
with a flash from his terrible central
eye smote off Daksha's
head; but afterwards relented and
replaced it with that
of a ram.
His two most famous
achievements are :
—
I St. When the Ganges
was to descend to earth from heaven
to purify from sin the
ashes of the sons of Sagara, he broke
its fall with his
head, lest it should overwhelm the earth. It
wandered for a
thousand years among his matted locks before
its final descent to
earth.
2nd. While he was
engaged in severe austerities on Mount
Himalaya, Kama, god of
love (sent by the Gods), archer of
the flowery bow,
attempted to awake passion in his breast,
that he might beget a
son to lead the hosts of heaven, whereupon
the angry God reduced
him to ashes with one flash of
his terrible eye.
Hence Kama is called (Ananga) Bodiless,
—though at last,
yielding to the prayers of Rati, his wife, and
of the Gods, ^iva gave
him a body again. The story is told
xliv RAGHUVANCA
at length by Kalidasa
in the Kumarasambhava ("Birth of
the War-God"). It
is an unending source of allusion and
metaphor throughout
Sanskrit poetry, especially in combination
with beautiful
descriptions of Spring, the gladsome
season of love.
Ganga was the daughter
of Mount Himalaya, and originally
flowed only in heaven.
But King Sagara having by austerities
gained by one wife one
son, and by the other 60,000,—prepared
for the great
Horse-sacrifice. When all was ready,
the victim was stolen
away by Civa in guise of a monstrous
snake. The 60,000 dug
down through earth, enlarging the
bounds of Ocean, hence
called Sagara, and were reduced to
ashes by the angry God
when they found him in Patala.
Their half-brother
renewed the quest, and found the ashes.
Garuda, Vishnu's bird,
told him from that God that the ashes
could be purified only
by the waters of heavenly Ganges.
Om Tat Sat
(Continued
..)
(My
humble salutations to Kavikula Guruh Kalidasa and greatfulness to Sreeman C H Tawney
for the collection)
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