Chapter 97

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 heads, the other three;” and Milton speaks of the “four-fold visaged Four,” the four Cherubic shapes each of whom had four faces.

881 Durdhar, or as the Bengal recension reads Mahodara, Prahasta, Mahápárśva, and Nikumbha.

882 The chief attendant of Śiva.

883 Bali, not to be confounded with Báli the Vánar, was a celebrated Daitya or demon who had usurped the empire of the three worlds, and who was deprived of two thirds of his dominions by Vishṇu in the Dwarf-incarnation.

884 When Hanumán was bound with cords, Indrajít released his captive from the spell laid upon him by the magic weapon.

885 “One who murders an ambassador (_rája bhata_) goes to Taptakumbha, the hell of heated caldrons.” WILSON’S _Vishṇu Puraṇa_, Vol. II. p. 217.

886 The fire which is supposed to burn beneath the sea.

887 Sítá is likened to the fire which is an emblem of purity.

888 I omit two stanzas which continue the metaphor of the sea or lake of air. The moon is its lotus, the sun its wild-duck, the clouds are its water-weeds, Mars is its shark and so on. Gorresio remarks: “This comparison of a great lake to the sky and of celestial to aquatic objects is one of those ideas which the view and qualities of natural scenery awake in lively fancies. Imagine one of those grand and splendid lakes of India covered with lotus blossoms, furrowed by wild-ducks of the most vivid colours, mantled over here and there with flowers and water weeds &c. and it will be understood how the fancy of the poet could readily compare to the sky radiant with celestial azure the blue expanse of the water, to the soft light of the moon the inner hue of the lotus, to the splendour of the sun the brilliant colours of the wild-fowl, to the stars the flowers, to the cloud the weeds that float upon the water &c.”

889 Sunábha is the mountain that rose from the sea when Hanumán passed over to Lanká.

890 Three Cantos of repetition are omitted.

_ 891 Madhuvan_ the “honey-wood.”

892 Indra’s pleasure-ground or elysium.

893 Janak was king of Videha or Mithilá in Behar.

894 The original contains two more Cantos which end the Book. Canto LXVII begins thus: “Hanumán thus addressed by the great-souled son of Raghu related to the son of Raghu all that Sítá had said.” And the two Cantos contain nothing but Hanumán’s account of his interview with Sítá, and the report of his own speeches as well as of hers.

895 The Sixth Book is called in Sanskrit _Yuddha-Káṇḍa_ or _The War_, and _Lanká-Káṇda_. It is generally known at the present day by the latter title.

896 Váyu is the God of Wind.

897 Garuḍa the King of Birds.

898 Serpent-Gods.

899 The God of the sea.

900 Indra’s elephant.

901 Kuvera, God of wealth.

902 Kuvera’s elephant.

903 The planet Venus, or its regent who is regarded as the son of Bhrigu and preceptor of the Daityas.

904 The seven _rishis_ or saints who form the constellation of the Great Bear.

905 Triśanku was raised to the skies to form a constellation in the southern hemisphere. The story in told in Book I, Canto LX.

906 The sage Viśvámitra, who performed for Triśanku the great sacrifice which raised him to the heavens.

907 One of the lunar asterisms containing four or originally two stars under the regency of a dual divinity Indrágni, Indra and Agni.

908 The lunar asterism Múla, belonging to the Rákshases.

909 The Asurs or demons dwell imprisoned in the depths beneath the sea.

910 The God of Riches, brother and enemy of Rávaṇ and first possessor of Pushpak the flying car.

911 King of the Serpents. Śankha and Takshak are two of the eight Serpent Chiefs.

912 The God of Death, the Pluto of the Hindus.

913 Literally Indra’s conqueror, so called from his victory over that God.

914 Their names are Nikumbha, Rabhasa, Súryaśatru, Suptaghna, Yajnakopa, Mahápárśva, Mahodara, Agniketu, Raśmiketu, Durdharsha, Indraśatru, Prahasta, Virúpáksha, Vajradanshṭra, Dhúmráksha, Durmukha, Mahábala.

915 Similarly Antenor urges the restoration of Helen:

“Let Sparta’s treasures be this hour restored, And Argive Helen own her ancient lord. As this advice ye practise or reject, So hope success, or dread the dire effect,”

POPE’S _Homer’s Iliad_, Book VII.

916 The _Agnisálá_ or room where the sacrificial fire was kept.

917 The exudation of a fragrant fluid from the male elephant’s temples, especially at certain seasons, is frequently spoken of in Sanskrit poetry. It is said to deceive and attract the bees, and is regarded as a sign of health and masculine vigour.

918 Consisting of warriors on elephants, warriors in chariots, charioteers, and infantry.

919 Indra, generally represented as surrounded by the Maruts or Storm-Gods.

920 Janasthán, where Ráma lived as an ascetic.

921 Máyá, regarded as the paragon of female beauty, was the creation of Maya the chief artificer of the Daityas or Dánavs.

922 One of the Nymphs of Indra’s heaven.

923 The Lotus River, a branch of the heavenly Gangá.

_ 924 Trilokanátha_, Lord of the Three Worlds, is a title of Indra.

925 The celestial elephant that carries Indra.

926 As producers of the _ghi_, clarified butter or sacrificial oil, used in fire-offerings.

927 This desertion to the enemy is somewhat abrupt, and is narrated with brevity not usual with Válmíki. In the Bengal recension the preceding speakers and speeches differ considerably from those given in the text which I follow. Vibhishaṇ is kicked from his seat by Rávaṇ, and then, after telling his mother what has happened, he flies to Mount Kailása where he has an interview with Śiva, and by his advice seeks Ráma and the Vánar army.

928 Vṛihaspati the preceptor of the Gods.

929 In Book II, Canto XXI, Kaṇdu is mentioned by Ráma as an example of filial obedience. At the command of his father he is said to have killed a cow.

930 A King of the Yakshas, or Kuvera himself, the God of Gold.

931 The brace protects the left arm from injury from the bow-string, and the guard protects the fingers of the right hand.

932 The story is told in Book I, Cantos XL, XLI, XLII.

933 Fiends and enemies of the Gods.

934 The Indus.

935 Cowherds, sprung from a Bráhman and a woman of the medical tribe, the modern Ahírs.

936 Barbarians or outcasts.

_ 937 Vraṇa_ means wound or rent.

938 Here in the Bengal recension (Gorresio’s edition), begins Book VI.

939 The Goomtee.

940 The Anglicized Nerbudda.

941 According to a Pauranik legend Keśarí Hanumán’s putative father had killed an Asur or demon who appeared in the form of an elephant, and hence arose the hostility between Vánars and elephants.

942 Here follows the enumeration of Sugríva’s forces which I do not attempt to follow. It soon reaches a hundred thousand billions.

943 I omit the rest of this canto, which is mere repetition. Rávaṇ gives in the same words his former answer that the Gods, Gandharvas and fiends combined shall not force him to give up Sítá. He then orders Śárdúla to tell him the names of the Vánar chieftains whom he has seen in Ráma’s army. These have already been mentioned by Śuka and Sáraṇ.

944 Lakshmí is the Goddess both of beauty and fortune, and is represented with a lotus in her hand.

945 The poet appears to have forgotten that Śuka and Sáraṇ were dismissed with ignominy in Canto XXIX, and have not been reinstated.

946 The four who fled with him. Their names are Anala, Panasa, Sampáti, and Pramati.

947 The numbers here are comparatively moderate: ten thousand elephants, ten thousand chariots, twenty thousand horses and ten million giants.

948 The Kinśuk, also called Paláśa, is Butea Frondosa, a tree that bears beautiful red crescent shaped blossoms and is deservedly a favorite with poets. The Seemal or Śálmalí is the silk cotton tree which also bears red blossoms.

949 Varuṇa.

950 The duty of a king to save the lives of his people and avoid bloodshed until milder methods have been tried in vain.

951 I have omitted several of these single combats, as there is little variety in the details and each duel results in the victory of the Vánar or his ally.

952 Yajnaśatru, Mahápárśva, Mahodar, Vajradanshṭra, Śuka, and Sáraṇ.

953 Angad.

954 A mysterious weapon consisting of serpents transformed to arrows which deprived the wounded object of all sense and power of motion.

955 On each foot, and at the root of each finger.

956 Varuṇ.

957 The name of one of the mystical weapons the command over which was given by Viśvámitra to Ráma, as related in Book I.

958 One of Sítá’s guard, and her comforter on a former occasion also.

959 The preceptor of the Gods.

960 Ráma’s grandfather.

961 The Gandharvas are warriors and Minstrels of Indra’s heaven.

962 “It is to be understood,” says the commentator, “that this is not the Akampan who has already been slain.”

963 Rávaṇ’s son, whom Hanumán killed when he first visited Lanká.

964 Níla was the son of Agni the God of Fire, and possessed, like Milton’s demons, the power of dilating and condensing his form at pleasure.

965 An ancient king of Ayodhyá said by some to have been Prithu’s father.

966 The daughter of King Kuśadhwaja. She became an ascetic, and being insulted by Rávaṇ in the woods where she was performing penance, destroyed herself by entering fire, but was born again as Sítá to be in turn the destruction of him who had insulted her.

967 Nandíśvara was Śiva’s chief attendant. Rávaṇ had despised and laughed at him for appearing in the form of a monkey and the irritated Nandíśvara cursed him and foretold his destruction by monkeys.

968 Rávaṇ once upheaved and shook Mount Kailása the favourite dwelling place of Śiva the consort of Umá, and was cursed in consequence by the offended Goddess.

969 Rambhá, who has several times been mentioned in the course of the poem, was one of the nymphs of heaven, and had been insulted by Rávaṇ.

970 Punjikasthalá was the daughter of Varuṇ. Rávaṇ himself has mentioned in this book his insult to her, and the curse pronounced in consequence by Brahmá.

971 Pulastya was the son of Brahmá and father of Viśravas or Paulastya the father of Rávaṇ and Kumbhakarṇa.

972 I omit a tedious sermon on the danger of rashness and the advantages of prudence, sufficient to irritate a less passionate hearer than Rávaṇ.

973 The Bengal recension assigns a very different speech to Kumbhakarṇa and makes him say that Nárad the messenger of the Gods had formerly told him that Vishṇu himself incarnate as Daśaratha’s son should come to destroy Rávaṇ.

974 Mahodar, Dwijihva, Sanhráda, and Vitardan.

975 A name of Vishṇu.

976 There is so much commonplace repetition in these Sallies of the Rákshas chieftains that omissions are frequently necessary. The usual ill omens attend the sally of Kumbhakarṇa, and the Canto ends with a description of the terrified Vánars’ flight which is briefly repeated in different words at the beginning of the next Canto.

977 Kártikeya the God of War, and the hero and incarnation Paraśuráma are said to have cut a passage through the mountain Krauncha, a part of the Himálayan range, in the same way as the immense gorge that splits the Pyrenees under the towers of Marboré was cloven at one blow of Roland’s sword Durandal.

978 Rishabh, Śarabh, Níla, Gaváksha, and Gandhamádan.

979 Angad. The text calls him the son of the son of him who holds the thunderbolt, _i.e._ the grandson of Indra.

980 Literally, weighing a thousand _bháras_. The _bhára_ is a weight equal to 2000 _palas_, the _pala_ is equal to four _karśas_, and the _karśa_ to 11375 French grammes or about 176 grains troy. The spear seems very light for a warrior of Kumbhakarṇa’s strength and stature and the work performed with it.

981 The custom of throwing parched or roasted grain, with wreaths and flowers, on the heads of kings and conquerors when they go forth to battle and return is frequently mentioned by Indian poets.

982 Lakshmaṇ.

983 I have abridged this long Canto by omitting some vain repetitions, commonplace epithets and similes and other unimportant matter. There are many verses in this Canto which European scholars would rigidly exclude as unmistakeably the work of later rhapsodists. Even the reverent Commentator whom I follow ventures to remark once or twice: _Ayam śloka prak shipta iti bahavah_, “This _śloka_ or verse is in the opinion of many interpolated.”

984 Narak was a demon, son of Bhúmi or Earth, who haunted the city Prágjyotisha.

985 Śambar was a demon of drought.

986 Indra.

987 Devántak (Slayer of Gods) Narántak (Slayer of Men) Atikáya (Huge of Frame) and Triśirás (Three Headed) were all sons of Rávaṇ.

988 The demon of eclipse who seizes the Sun and Moon.

989 Lakshmaṇ.

990 In such cases as this I am not careful to reproduce the numbers of the poet, which in the text which I follow are 670000000; the Bengal recension being content with thirty million less.

991 The discus or quoit, a sharp-edged circular missile is the favourite weapon of Vishṇu.

992 To destroy Tripura the triple city in the sky, air and earth, built by Maya for a celebrated Asur or demon, or as another commentator explains, to destroy Kandarpa or Love.

993 The Lokapálas are sometimes regarded as deities appointed by Brahmá at the creation of the word to act as guardians of different orders of beings, but more commonly they are identified with the deities presiding over the four cardinal and four intermediate points of the compass, which, according to Manu V. 96, are 1, Indra, guardian of the East; 2, Agni, of the South-east; 3, Yáma, of the South; 4, Súrya, of the South-west; 5, Varuṇa, of the West; 6, Pavana or Váyu, of the North-west; 7, Kuvera, of the North; 8, Soma or Chandra, of the North-east.

994 The chariots of Rávaṇ’s present army are said to have been one hundred and fifty million in number with three hundred million elephants, and twelve hundred million horses and asses. The footmen are merely said to have been “unnumbered.”

995 It is not very easy to see the advantage of having arrows headed in the way mentioned. Fanciful names for war-engines and weapons derived from their resemblance to various animals are not confined to India. The “War-wolf” was used by Edward I. at the siege of Brechin, the “Cat-house” and the “Sow” were used by Edward III. at the siege of Dunbar.

996 Apparently a peak of the Himalaya chain.

997 This exploit of Hanumán is related with inordinate prolixity in the Bengal recension (Gortesio’s text). Among other adventures he narrowly escapes being shot by Bharat as he passes over Nandigrama near Ayodhyá. Hanumán stays Bharat in time, and gives him an account of what has befallen Ráma and Sítá in the forest and in Lanká.

998 As Garuḍ the king of birds is the mortal enemy of serpents the weapon sacred to him is of course best calculated to destroy the serpent arrows of Rávaṇ.

999 The celebrated saint who has on former occasions assisted Ráma with his gifts and counsel.

1000 Indra.

1001 Yáma.

1002 Kártikeya.

1003 Kubera.

1004 Varuṇ.

1005 The Pitris, forefathers or spirits of the dead, are of two kinds, either the spirits of the father, grandfathers and great-grandfathers of an individual or the progenitors of mankind generally, to both of whom obsequial worship is paid and oblations of food are presented.

1006 The Maruts or Storm-Gods.

1007 The Heavenly Twins, the Castor and Pollux of the Hindus.

1008 The Man _par excellence_, the representative man and father of the human race regarded also as God.

1009 The Vasus, a class of deities originally personifications of natural phenomena.

1010 A class of celestial beings who dwell between the earth and the sun.

1011 The seven horses are supposed to symbolize the seven days of the week.

1012 One for each month in the year.

1013 The garden of Kuvera, the God of Riches.

1014 The consort of Indra.

1015 The Swayamvara, Self-choice or election of a husband by a princess or daughter of a Kshatriya at a public assembly of suitors held for the purpose. For a description of the ceremony see _Nala and Damayantí_ an episode of the Mahábhárat translated by the late Dean Milman, and _Idylls from the Sanskrit_.

1016 The Pitris or Manes, the spirits of the dead.

1017 Kuvera, the God of Wealth.

1018 Varuṇ, God of the sea.

1019 Mahádeva or Śiva whose ensign is a bull.

1020 The Address to Ráma, both text and commentary, will be found literally translated in the Additional Notes. A paraphrase of a portion is all that I have attempted here.

1021 Rávaṇ’s queen.

1022 Or Maináka.

1023 Here, in the North-west recension, Sítá expresses a wish that Tárá and the wives of the Vánar chiefs should be invited to accompany her to Ayodhyá. The car decends, and the Vánar matrons are added to the party. The Bengal recension ignores this palpable interruption.

1024 The _arghya_, a respectful offering to Gods and venerable men consisting of rice, dúivá grass, flowers etc., with water.

1025 I have abridged Hanumán’s outline of Ráma’s adventures, with the details of which we are already sufficiently acquainted.

1026 In these respectful salutations the person who salutes his superior mentions his own name even when it is well known to the person whom he salutes.

1027 I have omitted the chieftains’ names as they could not be introduced without padding. They are Mainda, Dwivid, Níla, Rishabh, Susheṇ, Nala, Gaváksha, Gandhamádan, Śarabh, and Panas.

1028 The following addition is found in the Bengal recension: But Vaiśravaṇ (Kuvera) when he beheld his chariot said unto it: “Go, and carry Ráma, and come unto me when my thought shall call thee, And the chariot returned unto Ráma;” and he honoured it when he had heard what had passed.

1029 Here follows in the original an enumeration of the chief blessings which will attend the man or woman who reads or hears read this tale of Ráma. These blessings are briefly mentioned at the end of the first Canto of the first book, and it appears unnecessary to repeat them here in their amplified form. The Bengal recension (Gorresio’s edition) gives them more concisely as follows: “This is the great first poem blessed and glorious, which gives long life to men and victory to kings, the poem which Válmíki made. He who listens to this wondrous tale of Ráma unwearied in action shall be absolved from all his sins. By listening to the deeds of Ráma he who wishes for sons shall obtain his heart’s desire, and to him who longs for riches shall riches be given. The virgin who asks for a husband shall obtain a husband suited to her mind, and shall meet again her dear kinsfolk who are far away. They who hear this poem which Válmíki made shall obtain all their desires and all their prayers shall be fulfilled.”

_ 1030 The Academy_, Vol. III., No 43, contains an able and interesting notice of this work from the pen of the Professor of Sanskrit in the University of Cambridge: “The _Uttarakáṇḍa_,” Mr. Cowell remarks, “bears the same relation to the _Rámáyaṇa_ as the Cyclic poems to the _Iliad_. Just as the _Cypria_ of Stasinus, the _Æthiopis_ of Arctinus, and the little _Iliad_ of Lesches completed the story of the _Iliad_, and not only added the series of events which preceded and followed it, but also founded episodes of their own on isolated allusions in Homer, so the _Uttarakáṇḍa_ is intended to complete the _Rámáyaṇa_, and at the same time to supplement it by intervening episodes to explain casual allusions or isolated incidents which occur in it. Thus the early history of the giant Rávaṇa and his family fills nearly forty Chapters, and we have a full account of his wars with the gods and his conquest of Lanká, which all happened long before the action of the poem commences, just as the _Cypria_ narrated the birth and early history of Helen, and the two expeditions of the Greeks against Troy; and the latter chapters continue the history of the hero Ráma after his triumphant return to his paternal kingdom, and the poem closes with his death and that of his brothers, and the founding by their descendants of various kingdoms in different parts of India.”

1031 MUIR, _Sanskrit Texts,_ Part IV., pp. 414 ff.

1032 MUIR, _Sanskrit Texts_, Part IV., 391, 392.

1033 See _Academy_, III., 43.

_ 1034 Academy_, Vol. III., No. 43.

1035 E. B. Cowell. _Academy_, No. 43. The story of Sítá’s banishment will be found roughly translated from the _Raghuvaṇśa_, in the Additional Notes.

1036 E. B. Cowell. _Academy_, Vol, III, No. 43.

1037 MUIR, _Sanskrit Texts_, Part IV., Appendix.

1038 Ghí: clarified butter. Gur: molasses.

1039 Haridwar (Anglicè Hurdwar) where the Ganges enters the plain country.

1040 Campbell in “Journ. As. Soc. Bengal,” 1866, Part ii. p. 132; Latham, “Descr. Eth.” Vol. ii. p. 456; Tod, “Annals of Rajasthan,” Vol. i. p. 114.

1041 Said by the commentator to be an eastern people between the Himálayan and Vindhyan chains.

1042 Videha was a district in the province of Behar, the ancient Mithilá or the modern Tirhoot.

1043 The people of Malwa.

1044 “The Káśikośalas are a central nation in the Váyu Puráṇa. The Rámáyaṇa places them in the east. The combination indicates the country between Benares and Oude.… Kośala is a name variously applied. Its earliest and most celebrated application is to the country on the banks of the Sarayú, the kingdom of Ráma, of which Ayodhyá was the capital.… In the Mahábhárata we have one Kośala in the east and another in the south, besides the Prák-Kośalas and Uttara Kośalas in the east and north. The Puráṇas place the Kośalas amongst the people on the back of Vindhya; and it would appear from the Váyu that Kuśa the son of Ráma transferred his kingdom to a more central position; he ruled over Kośala at his capital of Kúśasthali of Kuśavatí, built upon the Vindhyan precipices.” WILSON’S _Vishnṇu Púraṇa_, Vol. II. pp. 157, 172.

1045 The people of south Behar.

1046 The Puṇḍras are said to be the inhabitants of the western provinces of Bengal. “In the _Aitareyabráhmaṇa_, VII. 18, it is said that the elder sons of Viśvamitra were cursed to become progenitors of most abject races, such as Andhras, Puṇḍras, Śabaras, Pulindas, and Mútibas.” WILSON’S _Vishṇu Puráṇa_ Vol. II. 170.

1047 Anga is the country about Bhagulpore, of which Champá was the capital.