120. Chapter 120

श्रीवसिष्ठ उवाच । हेमोर्मिकादिवन्मिथ्या कथितायाः क्षयोन्मुखम् । त्वं महत्त्वमविद्यायाः शृणु राघव कीदृशम् ॥ १ ॥

śrīvasiṣṭha uvāca | hemormikādivanmithyā kathitāyāḥ kṣayonmukham | tvaṃ mahattvamavidyāyāḥ śṛṇu rāghava kīdṛśam || 1 ||

Vasishtha continued:—Now Rama, attend to the wonderful power of the said Avidya or error, in displaying the changeful phenomenals, like the changing forms of ornaments in the substance of the self-same gold.

लवणोऽसौ महीपालस्तथा दृष्ट्वा तदा भ्रमम् । द्वितीये दिवसे गन्तुं प्रवृत्तस्तां महाटवीम् ॥ २ ॥

lavaṇo'sau mahīpālastathā dṛṣṭvā tadā bhramam | dvitīye divase gantuṃ pravṛttastāṃ mahāṭavīm || 2 ||

The king Lavana, having at the end of his dream, perceived the falsehood of his vision, resolved on the following day to visit that great forest himself.

यत्र दृष्टं मया दुःखमरण्यानीं स्मरामि ताम् । चित्तादर्शगतां विन्ध्यात्कदाचिल्लभ्यते हि सा ॥ ३ ॥

yatra dṛṣṭaṃ mayā duḥkhamaraṇyānīṃ smarāmi tām | cittādarśagatāṃ vindhyātkadācillabhyate hi sā || 3 ||

He said to himself: ah! when shall I revisit the Vindhyan region, which is inscribed in my mind; and where I remember to have undergone a great many hardships in my forester's life.

इति निश्चित्य सचिवैः प्रययौ दक्षिणापथम् । पुनर्दिग्विजयायेव प्राप्य विन्ध्यमहीधरम् ॥ ४ ॥

iti niścitya sacivaiḥ prayayau dakṣiṇāpatham | punardigvijayāyeva prāpya vindhyamahīdharam || 4 ||

So saying, he took to his southward journey, accompanied by his ministers and attendants, as if he was going to make a conquest of that quarter, where he arrived at the foot of the mount in a few days.

पूर्वदक्षिणपाश्चात्यमहार्णवतटस्थलीम् । बभ्राम कौतुकात्सर्वां व्योमवीथीमिवोष्णगुः ॥ ५ ॥

pūrvadakṣiṇapāścātyamahārṇavataṭasthalīm | babhrāma kautukātsarvāṃ vyomavīthīmivoṣṇaguḥ || 5 ||

There he wandered about the southern, and eastern and western shores of the sea (i. e. all round the Eastern and Western Ghats). He was as delighted with his curvilinear course, as the luminary of the day, in his diurnal journey from east to west.

अथैकस्मिन्प्रदेशे तां चिन्तामिव पुरोगताम् । ददर्शोग्रामरण्यानीं परलोकमहीमिव ॥ ६ ॥

athaikasminpradeśe tāṃ cintāmiva purogatām | dadarśogrāmaraṇyānīṃ paralokamahīmiva || 6 ||

He saw there in a certain region, a deep and doleful forest stretching wide along his path, and likening the dark and dismal realms of death.

स तत्र विहरंस्तांस्तान्वृत्तान्तान्सकलानथ । दृष्टवान्पृष्टवांश्चैव ज्ञातवांश्च विसिस्मिये ॥ ७ ॥

sa tatra viharaṃstāṃstānvṛttāntānsakalānatha | dṛṣṭavānpṛṣṭavāṃścaiva jñātavāṃśca visismiye || 7 ||

Roving in this region he beheld everything, he had seen before in his dream; he then inquired into the former circumstances, and wandered to learn their conformity with the occurrences of his vision.

तान्परिज्ञातवांश्चासीद्व्याधान्पुल्कसजान्पुनः । विस्मयाकुलया बुद्ध्या भूयो बभ्राम संभ्रमी ॥ ८ ॥

tānparijñātavāṃścāsīdvyādhānpulkasajānpunaḥ | vismayākulayā buddhyā bhūyo babhrāma saṃbhramī || 8 ||

He recognised there the Chandala hunters of his dream, and being curious to know the rest of the events, he continued in his peregrination about the forest.

अथ प्राप्य महाटव्यां पर्यन्ते धूमधूसरे । तमेव ग्रामकं यस्मिन्सोऽभवत्पुष्टपुल्कसः ॥ ९ ॥

atha prāpya mahāṭavyāṃ paryante dhūmadhūsare | tameva grāmakaṃ yasminso'bhavatpuṣṭapulkasaḥ || 9 ||

He then beheld a hamlet at the skirt of the wilderness, foggy with smoke, and appearing as the spot where he bore the name of Pushta.

तत्रापश्यज्जनांस्तांस्तांस्ताः स्त्रियस्ताः कुटीरकाः । नानाकाराञ्जनाधारांस्तांस्तांश्च वसुधातटान् ॥ १० ॥

tatrāpaśyajjanāṃstāṃstāṃstāḥ striyastāḥ kuṭīrakāḥ | nānākārāñjanādhārāṃstāṃstāṃśca vasudhātaṭān || 10 ||

He beheld there the same huts and hovels, and the various kinds of human habitations, fields and plains, with the same men and women that dwelt their before.

तांश्चाकाण्डपरिभ्रष्टांतान्वृक्षांस्तांस्त्वनुव्रजान् । तांस्तथैव समुद्देशास्ताऋयाधानेकलान्सुतान् ॥ ११ ॥

tāṃścākāṇḍaparibhraṣṭāṃtānvṛkṣāṃstāṃstvanuvrajān | tāṃstathaiva samuddeśāstāṛyādhānekalānsutān || 11 ||

He beheld the same landscapes and leafless branches of trees, shorn of their foliage by the all devouring famine; he saw the same hunters pursuing their chase, and the same helpless orphans lying thereabouts.

अन्यासु वृद्धासु सबाष्पनेत्रास्वार्तार्तियुक्तासु च वर्णयन्ती । अकालकान्तारविशीर्णबन्धुर्दुःखान्यसंख्यानि सखीषु वृद्धा ॥ १२ ॥

anyāsu vṛddhāsu sabāṣpanetrāsvārtārtiyuktāsu ca varṇayantī | akālakāntāraviśīrṇabandhurduḥkhānyasaṃkhyāni sakhīṣu vṛddhā || 12 ||

He saw the old lady (his mother-in-law), wailing at the misfortunes of other matrons;who were lamenting like herself with their eyes suffused in tears, at the untimely deaths and innumerable miseries of their fellow brethren.

वृद्धा प्रवृद्धोज्ज्वलनेत्रबाष्पा कष्टं बताशुष्ककुचा कृशाङ्गी । अवग्रहोग्राशनिदग्धदेशे तत्रार्तनादा परिरोदितीदम् ॥ १३ ॥

vṛddhā pravṛddhojjvalanetrabāṣpā kaṣṭaṃ batāśuṣkakucā kṛśāṅgī | avagrahogrāśanidagdhadeśe tatrārtanādā pariroditīdam || 13 ||

The old matrons with their eyes flowing with brilliant drops of tears, and with their bodies and bosoms emaciated under the pressure of their afflictions; were mourning with loud acclamations of woe in that dreary district, stricken by drought and dearth.

हा पुत्रि पुत्रावृतसर्वगात्रे दिनत्रयाभोजनजर्जराङ्गि । कृत्वासिना वर्मणि जीर्णदेहाः कथं क्व मुक्ता भवतासवस्ते ॥ १४ ॥

hā putri putrāvṛtasarvagātre dinatrayābhojanajarjarāṅgi | kṛtvāsinā varmaṇi jīrṇadehāḥ kathaṃ kva muktā bhavatāsavaste || 14 ||

They cried, O ye sons and daughters, that lie dead with your emaciated bodies for want of food for these three days; say where fled your dear lives, stricken as they were by the steel of famine from the armour of your bodies.

तालीदलालम्बनमम्बुदाद्रौ दन्तान्तरस्थारुणसत्फलस्य । स्मरामि गुञ्जाफलदाम भर्तुः पुरस्थमुद्रामरहासिनस्ते ॥ १५ ॥

tālīdalālambanamambudādrau dantāntarasthāruṇasatphalasya | smarāmi guñjāphaladāma bhartuḥ purasthamudrāmarahāsinaste || 15 ||

We remember your sweet smiles, showing your coral teeth resembling the red gunjaphalas to our lords, as they descended from the towering tala (palm trees), with their red-ripe fruits held by their teeth, and growing on the cloud-capt mountains.

कदम्बजम्बीरलवङ्गगुञ्जाकुञ्जान्तरतस्तु चरत्तरक्षोः । पश्यामि पुत्रस्य कदा नु भूयो भयंकराण्युड्यतिवल्गितानि ॥ १६ ॥

kadambajambīralavaṅgaguñjākuñjāntaratastu carattarakṣoḥ | paśyāmi putrasya kadā nu bhūyo bhayaṃkarāṇyuḍyativalgitāni || 16 ||

When shall we see again the fierce leap of our boys, springing on the wolves crouching amidst the groves of Kadamba and Jamb and Lavanga and Gunja trees.

न तानि कामस्य विलासिनीह मुखेऽपि शोभालसितानि सन्ति । तमालनीले चिबुकैकदेशे सुतस्य चान्यास्यगतामिषस्य ॥ १७ ॥

na tāni kāmasya vilāsinīha mukhe'pi śobhālasitāni santi | tamālanīle cibukaikadeśe sutasya cānyāsyagatāmiṣasya || 17 ||

We do not see those graces even in the face of Kama the god of love, that we were wont to observe in the blue and black countenances of our children, resembling the dark hue of Tamala leaves, when feasting on their dainty food of fish and flesh.

सुतापनीता सह तेन भर्त्रा यमेन यस्या यमुना समाना । तमालवल्लीसहपुष्पगुच्छा समीरणेनेव वने वरेण ॥ १८ ॥

sutāpanītā saha tena bhartrā yamena yasyā yamunā samānā | tamālavallīsahapuṣpagucchā samīraṇeneva vane vareṇa || 18 ||

My nigrescent daughter, says one, has been snatched away from me with my dear husband like the dark Yamuna by the fierce Yama. O they have been carried away from me like the Tamala branch with its clustering flowers, by a tremendous gale from this sylvan scene.

हा पुत्रि गुञ्जाफलदामहारे समुन्नताभोगपयोधराङ्गि । वातोल्लसत्कज्जललोलवर्णे पर्णाम्बरे बादरजम्बुदन्ते ॥ १९ ॥

hā putri guñjāphaladāmahāre samunnatābhogapayodharāṅgi | vātollasatkajjalalolavarṇe parṇāmbare bādarajambudante || 19 ||

O my daughter, with thy necklace of the strings of red gunja seeds, gracing the protuberant breast of thy youthful person; and with thy swarthy complexion, seeming as the sea of ink was gently shaken by the breeze. Ah! whither hast thou fled with thy raiment of woven withered leaves, and thy teeth as black as the jet-jambu fruits.

हा राजपुत्रेन्दुसमानकान्त संत्यज्य शुद्धान्तविलासिनीस्ताः । रतिं प्रयातोऽसि ममात्मजायां न सापि ते सुस्थिरतामुपेता ॥ २० ॥

hā rājaputrendusamānakānta saṃtyajya śuddhāntavilāsinīstāḥ | ratiṃ prayāto'si mamātmajāyāṃ na sāpi te susthiratāmupetā || 20 ||

O young prince! that wast as fair as the full moon, and that didst forsake the fairies of thy harem, and didst take so much delight in my daughter, where hast thou fled from us? Ah my daughter! she too is dead in thy absence, and fled from my presence.

संसारनद्याः सुतरङ्गभङ्गैः क्रियाविलासैर्विहितोपहासैः । किं नाम तुच्छं न कृतं नृपेशो यद्योजितः पुष्कसकन्यकायाम् ॥ २१ ॥

saṃsāranadyāḥ sutaraṅgabhaṅgaiḥ kriyāvilāsairvihitopahāsaiḥ | kiṃ nāma tucchaṃ na kṛtaṃ nṛpeśo yadyojitaḥ puṣkasakanyakāyām || 21 ||

Being cast on the waves of this earthly ocean, and joined to the daughter of a Chandala, thou wast, O prince! subjected to mean and vile employments, that disgraced thy princely character.

सा त्रस्तसारङ्गसमाननेत्रा स दृप्तशार्दूलसमानवीर्यः । उभौ गतावेकपदेन नाशमाशा सहार्थेन यथा महेहा ॥ २२ ॥

sā trastasāraṅgasamānanetrā sa dṛptaśārdūlasamānavīryaḥ | ubhau gatāvekapadena nāśamāśā sahārthena yathā mahehā || 22 ||

Ah! that daughter of mine with her tremulous eyes, like those of the timorous fawn, and Oh! that husband valiant as the royal tiger; you are both gone together, as the high hopes and great efforts of men are fled with the loss of their wealth.

मृतेश्वराश्वस्तनिजात्मजास्मि दुर्देशयातास्मि च दुर्गताऽस्मि । दुर्जातिजातास्मि महापदेऽस्मि साक्षाद्भयं भोऽस्मि महापदस्मि ॥ २३ ॥

mṛteśvarāśvastanijātmajāsmi durdeśayātāsmi ca durgatā'smi | durjātijātāsmi mahāpade'smi sākṣādbhayaṃ bho'smi mahāpadasmi || 23 ||

Now grown husbandless, and having of late lost my daughter also, and being thrown in a distant and barren land, I am become the most miserable and wretched of beings. Born of a low caste, I am cast out of all prospect in life, and have become a personification of terror to myself, and a sight of horror to others.

नीचावमानप्रभवस्य मन्योः क्षुधाप्रपन्नस्य कलत्रकस्य । शोकस्य वृत्तावनिवार्यवृत्तेर्नार्यस्म्यनेकायतनं विनाथा ॥ २४ ॥

nīcāvamānaprabhavasya manyoḥ kṣudhāprapannasya kalatrakasya | śokasya vṛttāvanivāryavṛtternāryasmyanekāyatanaṃ vināthā || 24 ||

O! that the Lord has made me a widowed woman, and subjected me to the insult of the vulgar, and the hauteur of the affluent. Prostrated by hunger and mourning at the loss of a husband and child, I rove incessantly from door to door to beg alms for my supportance.

दैवोपतप्तस्य विबान्धवस्य मूढस्य रूढस्य महाधिभूमौ । यत्प्राणनं यन्मरणं महापद्यस्यात्मनिर्जीवितमुत्तमं तत् ॥ २५ ॥

daivopataptasya vibāndhavasya mūḍhasya rūḍhasya mahādhibhūmau | yatprāṇanaṃ yanmaraṇaṃ mahāpadyasyātmanirjīvitamuttamaṃ tat || 25 ||

It is better that one who is unfortunate and friendless, or subject to passion and diseases, should rather die sooner than live in misery. The dead and inanimate beings are far better than the living miserable.

जनैर्विहीनस्य कुदेशवृत्तेर्दुःखान्यनन्तानि समुल्लसन्ति । सहस्रशाखारससंकुलानि तृणानि वर्षास्विव पर्वतस्य ॥ २६ ॥

janairvihīnasya kudeśavṛtterduḥkhānyanantāni samullasanti | sahasraśākhārasasaṃkulāni tṛṇāni varṣāsviva parvatasya || 26 ||

Those that are friendless, and have to toil and moil in unfriendly places, are like the grass of the earth, trampled under the feet, and overwhelmed under a flood of calamities.

एवं लपन्तीं स्वकलत्रवृद्धां दासीभिराश्वास्य नृपः स्त्रियं ताम् । पप्रच्छ किंवृत्तमिहैव का च का ते सुता कश्च सुतस्तवेति ॥ २७ ॥

evaṃ lapantīṃ svakalatravṛddhāṃ dāsībhirāśvāsya nṛpaḥ striyaṃ tām | papraccha kiṃvṛttamihaiva kā ca kā te sutā kaśca sutastaveti || 27 ||

The king seeing his aged mother-in-law mourning in this manner, offered her some consolation through the medium of her female companions, and then asked that lady to tell him, "who she was, what she did there, who was her daughter and who is his son."

उवाच सा बाष्पविलोचनाथ ग्रामस्त्वयं पुष्पसघोषनामा । इहाभवत्पुष्कसकः पतिर्मे बभूव तस्येन्दुसमा सुतैका ॥ २८ ॥

uvāca sā bāṣpavilocanātha grāmastvayaṃ puṣpasaghoṣanāmā | ihābhavatpuṣkasakaḥ patirme babhūva tasyendusamā sutaikā || 28 ||

She answered him with tears in her eyes said:—This village is called Pukkasa-Ghosha, here I had a Pukkasa for my husband, who had a daughter as gentle as the moon.

सा दैवयोगात्पतिमिन्द्रतुल्यमिहागतं दैववशेन भूपम् । अयं विशीर्णं मधुकुम्भमाप वने वराकी करभी यथैका ॥ २९ ॥

sā daivayogātpatimindratulyamihāgataṃ daivavaśena bhūpam | ayaṃ viśīrṇaṃ madhukumbhamāpa vane varākī karabhī yathaikā || 29 ||

She happened to have here a husband as beautiful as the moon, who was a king and chanced to pass by this way. By this accident they were matched together, in the manner that an ass finds by chance a pot of honey lying on her way in the forest.

सा तेन सार्धं सुचिरं सुखानि भुक्त्वा प्रसूता तनयाः सुतांश्च । वृद्धिं गता काननकोटरेऽस्मिंस्तुम्बीलता पादपसंश्रितेव ॥ ३० ॥

sā tena sārdhaṃ suciraṃ sukhāni bhuktvā prasūtā tanayāḥ sutāṃśca | vṛddhiṃ gatā kānanakoṭare'smiṃstumbīlatā pādapasaṃśriteva || 30 ||

She lived long with him in connubial bliss, and produced to him both sons and daughters, who grew up in the covert of this forest, as the gourd plant grows on a tree serving as its support.