The Rámáyan of Válmíki, translated into English verse

He spoke, and Ráma, just and brave, Whose pious soul to virtue clave, Smiled as in conscious might he eyed The king of Vánars, and replied: “Best fruit of friendship is the deed...

His pitying eyes with tears bedewed, The weeping queen again he viewed, And saw around the prisoner stand Her demon guard, a fearful band. Some earless, some with ears that hung...

They led her to that garden where The sweetest flowers perfumed the air, Where bright trees bore each rarest fruit, And birds, enamoured, ne’er were mute. Bowed down with terror...

“What fame, from one thou hast not slain In front of battle, canst thou gain, Whose secret hand has laid me low When madly fighting with my foe? From every tongue thy glory ring...

In pleasant words then Ráma gave His best to Lakshmaṇ prompt and brave, As Brahmá speaks for Him to hear Who rules the Gods’ celestial sphere: “To the two best of Bráhmans run;...

Thus for his wife in vain he sought: Then, his sad soul with pain distraught, The hero of the lotus eyes Filled all the air with frantic cries. O’erpowered by love’s strong infl...

Thus to the gathered lords he spoke; But no reply the silence broke. Then with a sterner voice he cried: “O chiefs, the nation’s boast and pride, Whom valour strength and power...

But Hanumán, while Tára, best Of splendid chiefs his thought expressed, Perceived that Báli’s princely son A kingdom for himself had won.(757) His keen eye marked in him combine...

Soon as they heard the holy man, To the king’s chamber swift they ran With minds disordered all, and spurred To wildest zeal by what they heard. On to the royal hall they sped,...

Her flowery wreath was torn and rent, Crushed was each sparkling ornament. She with weak arms and trembling knees Clung like a creeper to the trees, And like some poor deserted...

Then he whose heart was rich in store Of scripture’s life-directing lore, King Jámbaván, stood forth and cried: “Suspect, suspect a foe allied With Rávaṇ lord of Lanká’s isle, A...

“Dismiss the hope of conquering one So stern and strong as Raghu’s son. In due control each sense he keeps With constant care that never sleeps. Whose daring heart has e’er conc...

Forth went the seven in brave attire, In glory brilliant as the fire, Impetuous chiefs with massive bows, The quellers of a host of foes: Trained from their youth in martial lor...

[Three Cantos consisting of little but repetitions are omitted. Dadhimukh escapes from the infuriated monkeys and hastens to Sugríva to report their misconduct. Sugríva infers t...

When those who forth with Ráma went Back to the town their steps had bent, It seemed that death had touched and chilled Those hearts which piercing sorrow filled. Each to his se...

His sweetly-speaking bride, who best Deserved her lord, he thus addressed. Then tender love bade passion wake, And thus the fair Videhan spake: “What words are these that thou h...

Thus spoke the saint. Each vigorous word The noble monarch’s offspring heard, And, reverent hands together laid, His answer to the hermit made: “My sire and mother bade me aye T...

“Still to my father’s word I hold, Whate’er he bought, or pledged, or sold: Ne’er shall his living promise be Annulled by Bharat or by me. Not thus my task will I evade, My exil...

“King, I renounce all earthly care, And live in woods on woodland fare. What, dead to joys, have I to do With lordly train and retinue! Who gives his elephant and yet Upon the g...

The giants bent, in rage and grief, Their eyes upon the fallen chief: Then flying wild with fear and pale To Rávaṇ bore the mournful tale. He heard how Atikáya died, Then turned...

Good Bharat, by the river side, To virtuous Ráma’s speech replied, And thus with varied lore addressed The prince, while nobles round him pressed: “In all this world whom e’er c...

The boy’s address the monarch cheered, And soon the sacred ground he neared. The convocation’s high decree Declared the youth from blemish free; Clothed in red raiment he was ti...

The Lord of Gods then gave consent, And to his heavenly mansion went. Triumphant in the arms he held, The monarch’s breast with glory swelled. So swells the ocean, when upon His...

He ceased: he hurled the mortal dart By Maya forged with magic art. The spear, with all his fury flung, Swift, flickering like a serpent’s tongue, Adorned with many a tinkling b...

Conversing thus their way pursued The city’s joyous multitude, And each in mutual rapture pressed A friend or neighbour to his breast. Thus every man of high renown, And every m...

Thus gave the king command anew: Sumantra from his lord withdrew; With head in lowly reverence bent, And filled with thoughts of joy, he went. The royal street he traversed, whe...

“O hermits, blest in vows, who shine Like royal saints or Gods divine, O best of young ascetics, say How to this spot you found your way, Scaring the troops of wandering deer An...

Ranged round the spot where Ráma fell Each Vánar chief stood sentinel. At length the mighty hero broke The trance that held him, and awoke. He saw his senseless brother, dyed Wi...

When Khara with the hosts he led Drew near to Ráma’s leafy shed, He saw that queller of the foe Stand ready with his ordered bow. He saw, and burning at the view His clanging bo...

Then with the morn’s returning sun. King Janak, when his rites were done, Skilled all the charms of speech to know, Spoke to wise Śatánanda so: “My brother, lord of glorious fam...

He hastened then with graceful ease That mighty bow and shaft to seize. His hand the weapon strung and swayed: The arrow on the string was laid. Then Jamadagni’s son he eyed, An...

Ráma the good, in ritual trained, Pure from the bath, with thoughts restrained, Hasted those verses to repeat Which make the sacrifice complete. The hosts celestial came in view...

But when the solemn rite was o’er, And bold Sugríva reigned once more, The sons of Raghu sought the hill, Praśravaṇ of the rushing rill, Where roamed the tiger and the deer, And...

Then lest the people should repeat Their visit to his calm retreat, Away from Chitrakúṭa’s hill Fared Ráma ever onward till Beneath the shady trees he stood Of Daṇḍaká’s primeva...

Kauśalyá’s eyes with tears o’erflowed, Weighed down by varied sorrows’ load; On her dead lord her gaze she bent, Who lay like fire whose might is spent, Like the great deep with...

Thus from their flight the Vánars turned, And every heart for battle burned, Determined on the spot to die Or gain a warrior’s meed on high. Again the Vánars stooped to seize Th...

The Rámáyan ends, epically complete, with the triumphant return of Ráma and his rescued queen to Ayodhyá and his consecration and coronation in the capital of his forefathers. E...

She listened, as with sorrow faint He murmured forth his sad complaint: Her brimming eyes with tears ran o’er, As spouts the new fallen water pour; His suppliant hands, with fea...

Thus Ráma spoke, and took the road To Śarabhanga’s pure abode. But near that saint whose lustre vied With Gods, by penance purified, With startled eyes the prince beheld A wondr...

Her eyes the Maithil lady raised And on the monkey speaker gazed. She looked, and trembling at the sight Wept bitter tears in wild affright. She shrank a while with fear distrau...

When Sagar thus had bowed to fate, The lords and commons of the state Approved with ready heart and will Prince Anśumán his throne to fill. He ruled, a mighty king, unblamed, Si...

“I told thee of that dreadful day When Ráma smote and spared to slay. Now hear me, Rávaṇ, while I tell What in the after time befell. At length, restored to strength and pride,...

Ikshváku’s son, the good and brave, This last farewell to Guha gave, And then, with Lakshmaṇ and his bride, Determined, on his way he hied. Soon as he viewed, upon the shore, Th...

When Janak’s lovely city first Upon their sight, yet distant, burst, The hermits all with joyful cries Hailed the fair town that met their eyes. Then Ráma saw a holy wood, Close...

An arrow on the string he laid, And rushing near the bird surveyed, While earth to ocean’s distant side Trembled beneath his furious stride. With blood and froth on neck and bea...

Then, by the saint Vaśishṭha pressed, And all the gathered priests beside, To Bharat’s dutiful request The hermit graciously replied: “Worthy of thee, O Prince, this deed, True...

“I will declare, do thou attend, How Bharat may his throne ascend. Dost thou forget what things befell? Or dost thou feign, remembering well? Or wouldst thou hear my tongue repe...

“List while I tell, O Raghu’s son, The first-born Fathers, one by one, Great Lords of Life, whence all in earth And all in heaven derive their birth. First Kardam heads the glor...

But King Sugríva’s ear was dulled, By love and wine and languor lulled, Nor did the words that Angad spake The slumberer from his trance awake. But soon as Raghu’s son came nigh...

“Arise, my sister; cast away This numbing terror and dismay, And straight the impious hand declare That marred those features once so fair. For who his finger tip will lay On th...

“King Daśaratha,” thus cried they, “Fervent in penance many a day, The sacrificial steed has slain, Longing for sons, but all in vain. Now, at the cry of us forlorn, Incarnate a...

“O Ráma, how dost thou, being the creator of all the world, best of all those who have profound knowledge of the Upanishads and all-powerful as thou art, suffer Sítá to fall in...

As thus he sadly mourned and sighed, The son of Daśaratha spied A bower of leafy branches made, Sacred and lovely in the shade, Of fair proportions large and tall, Well roofed w...

He entered in, he looked around, Nor in the house his father found; Then to his mother’s dwelling, bent To see her face, he quickly went. She saw her son, so long away, Returnin...

There breathing still with slow faint sighs Lay Báli on the ground: his eyes, Damp with the tears of death, he raised, On conquering Sugríva gazed, And then in clearest speech e...

Forth went the legions of the west: And wise Sugríva addressed Śatabal, summoned from the crowd. To whom the sovereign cried aloud: “Go forth, O Vánar chief, go forth, Explore t...

“By whom, Kaikeyí, wast thou taught This flattering hope with ruin fraught? Have goblins seized thy soul, O dame, Who thus canst speak and feel no shame? Thy mind with sin is si...

The father, swift to feel for woe, Shall on his friend his child bestow; And he shall take her and depart To his own town with joyous heart. The maiden home in triumph led, To R...

Thus Ráma to his brother said; And Lakshmaṇ bent his drooping head. In turns by grief and pride impelled, A middle course of thought he held, Then in a frown of anger, bent His...

Ráma went foremost of the three, Next Sítá, followed, fair to see, And Lakshmaṇ with his bow in hand Walked hindmost of the little band. As onward through the wood they went, Wi...

Then flushed with joy the lady’s cheek. Her eyes o’erflowed, her voice was weak; But struggling with her sobs she broke Her silence thus, and faintly spoke: “So fast the flood o...

Then Ráma, speeding through the skies, Bent on the earth his eager eyes: “Look, Sítá, see, divinely planned And built by Viśvakarmá’s hand, Lanká the lovely city rest Enthroned...

Great trembling seized her frame, and she Fell like a stricken plantain tree. As lie the dead she lay; at length Slowly regaining sense and strength, On the dear head she fixed...

Then while the dust upon him hung, The monarch to Kauśalyá clung, And she with mournful steps and slow Turned to the palace, worn with woe. As one whose hand has touched the fir...

The guardian goddess thus subdued, The Vánar chief his way pursued, And reached the broad imperial street Where fresh-blown flowers were bright and sweet. The city seemed a fair...

“How lovely Pampá’s waters show, Where streams of lucid crystal flow! What glorious trees o’erhang the flood Which blooms of opening lotus stud! Look on the banks of Pampá where...

They heard the speech of that wise king Of their misfortune questioning. Again the hundred maidens sighed, Touched with their heads his feet, and cried: “The God of Wind, pervad...

Thus all the princely Vánars, true To their appointed tasks, withdrew. Sugríva deemed already done The work he planned for Raghu’s son. Then Lakshmaṇ gently spoke and cheered Su...

Then Ráma, like the lotus eyed, Descended from the mountain side, And to the Maithil lady showed The lovely stream that softly flowed. And thus Ayodhyá’s lord addressed His brid...

This said, he ranged with warlike art Each body of the host apart. “There in the centre,” Ráma cried, “Be Angad’s place by Níla’s side. Let Rishabh of impetuous might Be lord an...

Still Rávaṇ for the battle burned: At Lakshmaṇ next his car he turned, And charged amain with furious show, Straining in mighty hands his bow. “Come,” Lakshmaṇ cried, “assay the...

“King Janak, just and brave and strong, Who loves the right and hates the wrong, Well skilled in what the law ordains For Warriors, o’er Videha reigns. Guiding one morn the plou...

Then Ráma, that his friend might know His strength unrivalled, grasped his bow, That mighty bow the foe’s dismay,— And on the string an arrow lay. Next on the tree his eye he be...

And Bharat heard Vaśishṭha’s rede With due attention and agreed. He summoned straight from every side Chaplain, and priest, and holy guide. The sacred fires he bade them bring F...

Thus having warned his brother bold He grasped his sword with haft of gold, And bow with triple flexure bent, His own delight and ornament; Then bound two quivers to his side, A...

When Lakshmaṇ, faithful to his brother, stood Prepared to leave her in the distant wood, The holy Gangá, flowing by the way, Raised all her hands of waves to bid him stay. At le...

The envoy answered: “Prince, thy sire Has sent thy presence to require. My sender known, ’tis thine to say If thou wilt go or answer nay.” Then Ráma, when he heard his speech, M...

King Daśaratha, lofty-souled, That city guarded and controlled, With towering Sál trees belted round,(65) And many a grove and pleasure ground, As royal Indra, throned on high,...

When Ráma saw each bloody trace On King Sugríva’s limbs and face, He cried, while, sorrowing at the view, His arms about his friend he threw: “Too venturous chieftain, kings lik...

Hanúmán, 5, 9, 10, 28, 324 ff., 328, 332, 337, 340, 350, 355, 359, 360, 363, 364 note, 368, 371, 374, 378 ff., 392 ff., 411 ff., 424 ff., 449, 456.

To a reader of sensibility, such recurrences wear an air of child-like simplicity, beautifully recalling the features of Homer’s primitive age. But they would have appeared faul...

Whatever, however, may have been the train of ideas which led the Hindú to regard the monkey as a being half human and half divine, there can be little doubt that in the Rámáyan...

“The punishment which the Code of Manu awards to the slayer of a Brahman was to be branded in the forehead with the mark of a headless corpse, and entirely banished from society...

724 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. Vishṇu slew him and recov...

“Thou, worst of giant blood, at length Hast shown the utmost of thy strength, And forced by greater might to bow, Thy vaunting threats are idle now. My shafts have cut thy club...

880 The ten heads of Rávaṇ have provoked much ridicule from European critics. It should be remembered that Spenser tells us of “two brethren giants, the one of which had two hea...

They all then having seen that (sacrifice) performed by the great sage according to the ordinance went to Prajápati the lord of mankind, and with joined hands addressed Brahmá t...

“Long are his arms and large his eyes: A black deer’s skin his dress supplies. King Daśaratha’s son is he, Fair as Kandarpa’s self to see. Adorned with many a golden band, A bow...

347 It would be lost labour to attempt to verify all the towns and streams mentioned in Cantos LXVIII and LXXII. Professor Wilson observes (_Vishṇu Puráṇa_, p. 139. Dr. Hall’s E...

With knitted brow and furious eye The stranger made his fierce reply: “In me O fairest dame, behold The brother of the King of Gold. The Lord of Ten Necks my title, named Rávaṇ,...

104 “Four classes of priests were required in India at the most solemn sacrifices. 1. The officiating priests, manual labourers, and acolytes, who had chiefly to prepare the sac...

The Bombay edition reads _trilokajǹa,_ _who knows the three worlds_ (earth, air and heaven.) “It is by _tapas_ (austere fervour) that rishis of subdued souls, subsisting on root...

“A curious festival is celebrated in honour of this divinity (Lakshmî) on the fifth lunar day of the light half of the month Mâgha (February), when she is identified with Sarasw...

218 Kumárila says: “In the same manner, if it is said that Indra was the seducer of Ahalyá this does not imply that the God Indra committed such a crime, but Indra means the sun...

Invocation. Book I. Canto I. Nárad. Canto II. Brahmá’s Visit Canto III. The Argument. Canto IV. The Rhapsodists. Canto V. Ayodhyá. Canto VI. The King. Canto VII. The Ministers....

The monster ceased: the princely pair Heard great Kabandha’s eager prayer. Within a mountain cave they sped, Where kindled fire with care they fed. Then Lakshmaṇ in his mighty h...

Then Ráma, smitten with the pain His heaving heart could scarce restrain, Groaned like an elephant and strode With Lakshmaṇ to the queen’s abode. A warder there, whose hoary eld...

1048 A fabulous people, “men who use their ears as a covering.” So Sir John Maundevile says: “And in another Yle ben folk that han gret Eres and long, that hangen down to here k...