Sundara
Kandam
(The
beautiful book)
Translated
by
P.R.Ramachander
1. Dealing
with crossing of the sea by Hanuman
( This chapter describes how Hanuman crossed
the great ocean to reach Sri Lanka in search of Sita.On the way first the God
of Ocean and Mainaka mountain respected him. Later the devas tested his
capability by sending Surasa Devi to test him. After this Simhika dragged his
shadow and tried to eat him. Crossing all these hurdles he reached the other
shore safely)
Afterwards Hanuman, the slayer of his
enemies, desired to travel by the paths that the Charanas (The devas who travel
in the sky) travel, to find out the place where Sita who has been abducted by
Ravana. is kept in hiding..
1.1
With a
desire to perform the incomparable and difficult job, he extended his head and
neck and resembled a bull.
1.2
Then the
valorous, strong and wise Hanuman started traveling as he liked, similar to a
lion in zest, creating terror to the birds, felling trees by his immense chest,
glowing like a diamond and killing various animals in the grass, like the
torrential flow of water.
1.3-1.4
Hanuman
stood like an elephant calf in a forest, in the mountain, which had many
special elephants and which are fit to be worshipped and endowed, possessing
the natural colours of blue, red, yellow and pink, decorated by the strange
reddish (laterite) stones and also thickly populated by Yakshas, Kinnaras,
Gandharvas (all the three are communities of minor devas) and Devas with their
families along with Pannagas who can take any form or shape they like.
1.5-1.7
That reddish
vanara (monkey), saluted the Sun God, the king of devas Indra, The Wind God
Vayu, The progenitor Lord Brahma and all great and holy ones and then turned to
the eastern direction and saluted his own father Vayu again. He then thought of
Rama and Lakshmana and offered them his prayers and bowed before all the holy
rivers and the sea. After this he embraced his manes and offered pradakshina
(perambulation) to them and concentrated his mind on the travel that he intended
to make.
1.8-1.10
Being
blessed by all vanaras assembled there with a wish made by them for his safe
return journey, he stood facing the path in which the wind travels. 1.11
He stood facing
the south and started growing in his physical stature, after requesting the
other monkeys to wait for him in the same place.
1.12
Being
watched by the great and elderly monkeys, Hanuman who is the greatest among
those who can jump and cross, grew like the ocean in high tide for completing
the work of Rama.
1.13
With his
forelegs extended, he with an enormous stature stood facing Sree Lanka, with a
wish to jump and cross the sea and pressed the mountain by his fore legs. 1.14
The mountain
in spite of this pressure was stable but tottered for a few minutes. As a result
the trees shook and flowers of different colours were strewn all over the
mountain.
1.15
Strewn by
the thick flower clusters all over, the mountain was covered fully by flowers.
It appeared more like a mountain of
flowers.
1.16
Pressed
heavily by the strong Hanuman, The Mahendra Mountain resembled an elephant in
heat and water flowed out of it.
1.17
Pressed by
the great Hero Hanuman, that mountain
revealed deposits of Gold, Mica and silver through the openings and
sparkled.
1.18
Not only
that but also that mountain which had lot of laterite stones, threw out medium
size fire flames all over and pushed out dense smoke. 1.19
Because of
the pressure exerted by the Vanara, the animals, which lived in the caves, were
pressed and made sad and painful sounds.
1.20
That
horrendous noise made by the big animals spread in all directions all over the
world and also in gardens through out.
1.21
Snakes with
shining white Swastika marked hoods spit out poison from their mouth and hit at
the stones with their poisonous teeth.
1.22
Stuck by the
angry and poisonous snakes those big stones burnt as if they were on fire and
broke in to thousands of pieces.
1.23
Those herbs
in the mountain, which were supposed to cure the poison bite of the snakes,
were not able to remove the poison from the mountain itself.
1. 24
Some of the
snakes with big body were spitting fire and came out from the caves and were
trampled by Hanuman’s feet.
1.25
Trampled
heavily those trees of the mountain with new growths, gave out a smell of
sandal, and gave rise to a rain of flowers.
1.26
Those stones
of the mountain, which were deep red, yellow and light red broke in to pieces
and were strewn all over.
1.27
With the
colour of reddish sandal and with ochre coloured deposits that mountain shone
like a fire and was broken. 1.28
Vidhyadaras
(demi gods who wear garland and live in the sky) who had brought golden vessels
to drink alcoholic drinks left behind the costly vessels and mugs, various
types of flavored and cooked meat, shields made of the hide of a bull and
swords with golden handles and rose up along with their women folk thinking
that the mountain is being broken along with sages occupying it.
1.29-1.31
Not only that, some other Vidhyadharas who
wore garlands in their neck and who had eyes like white lotus and some others
who were intoxicated and also who were decorated by red paste and red garlands
and red eyes reached the sky. 1.32
Their ladies
who wore chains, armlets, shoulder
bangles, stood with a smiling face along
with their lovers, in the sky.
1.33
Empowered by
the manthras that they knew these Vidhyadharas and sages were able to float in
the sky and watch the mountain.
1.34
Others heard
the following words spoken by those
great sages, the demi gods Charanas and
saints of great reputation,
1.35
“The very
strong Hanuman who is the son of wind
God Vayu who is as big as a mountain is going to cross the sky like the sharks
cross the ocean.”
1.36
“For the
sake of Lord Rama, and for the sake of his monkey friends, he is attempting to
the impossible job of crossing the ocean. “
1.37
The
Vidhyadharas who heard these words of
the sages stood in the sky and watched Hanuman who had an enormous form. 1.38
Hanuman who
was like a small mountain shook his body, shed some of the hair from his body
and like a big cloud made a very loud trumpeting sound. 1.39
Making up
his mind to jump to a great height, Hanuman rotated his big round tail, which
is covered by hair all over, like a
eagle rotating a snake. 1.40
Swiftly
being rotated behind him , his thick tail, resembled an enormous snake being
drawn hither and thither by Lord Garuda. (Eagle
on whom Lord Vishnu rides)
1.41
Hanuman
stood stiff with his forelegs, which resembled
huge iron pillars, made his belly as small as possible and readied his
hind legs for a big jump. 1.42
That great
Hero, shortened his arms and neck and increased his virility, stature and power
to the maximum extent possible.
1.43
Looking
above, staring afar and staring in to the sky he controlled his breath for
the big jump.
1.44
Standing
firm on his two legs, extending his ears to catch all the sound , making up his
mind to travel fast in the sky, that Great monkey who is very strong, faced the other monkeys and spoke to them as
follows.
1.45
“I would
travel to Sri Lanka which is protected by Ravana like the holy arrow sent by Lord Rama with the
speed of the torrential wind.”
1. 46
“If I am not
able to find Sita in Sri Lanka, I would then go to the heavens with the same
speed.”
1.47
“If I am not
able to locate her there also, with great ease , I will tie Ravana and bring
him here.” 1.
48
“Whatever
may happen, I would return after fulfilling the task and return along with Sita and if not I would bring the
whole Sri Lanka along with Ravana.” 1.49
After
talking like to this to the other monkeys, the great monkey Hanuman, without
any worry and with great speed resembling that of Garuda, rose up in the
sky. 1.50
When he rose
up in the sky, the trees in that mountain along
with their branches also rose
along with him. 1.51
Along with
him , he took away flower-laden trees
with white fat cranes using the speed of his thighs and traveled in the clear paths of the
sky.
1.52
Those trees
which traveled along with him by the speed of his thighs, returned back after
some time like the relatives who go with the guests and return after some time
after the send off.
1.53
Those sala
(possibly pine trees) trees which rose to the sky by the speed of the thigh of
Hanuman accompanied him like the soldiers who accompany their king. 1.54
Surrounded
by many types of fully flower-laden trees, the mountain like Hanuman was
looking surprisingly wonderful.
1. 55
Those well
mature trees fell in the sea like the mountains slain by Indra[1]
and drowned deep.
1.
56
Hanuman who
was similar to a cloud and looked like a
mountain surrounded by different type of flowers, buds , tender leaves and fire
flies.
1. 57
Those trees
along with heaps of flowers from them which were uprooted by the
speed of the thighs of Hanuman returned back to the water like the friends
after a send off. 58
The multi
coloured and different kinds of
flowers which were light by nature
which fell of due to the fast movement of Hanuman, fell in to the sea. 1.59
Because of
them the great sea glittered like a sky
full of stars 1.60
In addition
, decorated by the series of multi coloured mountains which were falling
behind, Hanuman looked like a streak of lightning in front of clouds which
travel at a great height.
1. 61
Strewn by
the great speed of Hanuman the flowers which fell on the water looked like the sky
strewn with millions of stars.
1. 62
The great
storm generated by his travel attracted greatly the clouds, which were
shining once in a while due to lightning. 1.63
The sky with
clouds which were rising high, and the water filled ocean moving by tides of
great speed looked alike.
1.64
Pointing
high towards the sky, those two hands of Hanuman looked similar to two five
headed snakes coming out of the peak of mountains.
1. 65
That great
monkey appeared as if he was preparing to drink the great ocean full of high
tides and also as if he was wishing to drink the sky also. 1.66
The two eyes
of Hanuman who was traveling in the sky
appeared as if they were shining like two mountain fires at two
different points.
1.67
The two big
yellow eyes of the chief of the monkey , shined like the moon and sun in the
solar system.
1.68
His face
which appeared reddish by his large red nose, looked similar to the sky with a
red setting sun.
1.69
His tails,
which were held aloft in the sky, looked like Indra’s flag held aloft in the
sky.
1.70
With his
white sparkling teeth ,the famous and wise son of Wind god in the round created
by his tail, looked similar to the sun
framed by his halo.
1.71
His reddish
behind appeared as if it is a reddish laterite split mountain. 1. 72
The wind
passing through the armpits of the monkey who was crossing the sea made
thunderous swooshing sound made by the clouds.
1. 73
That monkey
hero appeared like a comet with a tail traveling through the sky. 1.
74
The great
statured monkey who was equal to the rising sun shined with his waistcloth like an elephant.
1.75
With his
great body floating in the sky and its reflection in the depths of the ocean,
the monkey looked like a ship being driven by the wind.
1.76
Whichever
part of the atmosphere he traveled , that portion appeared greatly agitated by
the speed of his body.
1.77
That monkey
who was traveling with great speed was
beating away the high tides of the sea by his immense chest.
1.78
The speed of
the wind generated by the moving monkey as well as the moving clouds twisted the
sea greatly. By their great sounds.
1.79
That monkey
who was dragging with him the great tides of the salty sea, traveled as if he
was separating the land and the sky. 1.80
Moving with
immense speed and crossing the mountain(resembling the mount Meru) like high
tides he appeared as if he was counting
those tides while crossing them. 1. 81
The seawater
thrown towards the clouds by the monkey traveling at great speed mixed with the
clouds and appeared like clouds of the autumn. 1. 82
Those
whales, crocodiles, fishes and tortoise which appeared above the water looked
like human limbs when the cloths was removed from them. 1.
83
At that time
the big snakes living in the sea seeing the flying chief of monkeys mistook him
to be ,Garuda the eagle. 1.84
His shade
,which was ten yojanas[2]
broad and thirty yojanas long ,appeared pretty over the water.
1.
85
Broadly
placed over the sea his shadow in the water appeared as if it was a were a huge crowd of fish following him
.
1. 86
Hanuman who
was very powerful , very huge and a
great monkey appeared as if he was a winged mountain floating in the sky
without any support. 1.87
That monkey
who was very powerful caused the sea to
look like a mountain pass because of the
high speed he was traveling in his path.
1.88
He traveled
like the king of birds through the route in which the birds flew and appeared
as if a fast moving wind was dragging the clouds.
1.89
The huge
clouds attracted by the monkey shined with colours of white, red , blue and
yellow .
1.90
He appeared
as if he was a moon which is traveling through
the cloud being hid at times and being seen at times.
1.91
The Devas,
Gandharwas and Dhanavas rained flowers on the fast flying
monkey. 1.92
Then as if
to aid the work of Lord Rama, the sun did not scorch him and the wind made a pleasant atmosphere round
him.
1.93
The sages
praised the monkey who was traveling with great speed and also the Devas and
Gandharwas sang in praise of the great
one.
1.94
Seeing the
monkey did not appear tired by his exertions, Rakshasas and Nagas, Yakshas and
devas praised him with glee. 1.95
When the
great monkey was traveling thus the God of the ocean thought of methods of
honoring the descendent of Ikshu Vaku.
1.96
He thought
that if he did not help Lord Hanuman in his effort all those who can talk would
speak ill of him.
1. 97
Since the
Sagara kings belonging to the Ikshu Vaku clan raised him and Hanuman was
helping their descendent , The God of Ocean thought that Hanuman should not get
tired.
1.98
He thought
that he should take suitable action, which would refresh Hanuman and also provide him with rest so
that he can cross the remaining distance easily. 1.99
Thinking
properly like this, the God of the ocean
spoke to the mountain Hiranya Nabha(Golden bellied) also called as Mainaka (son
of Mena)who was hiding within him.
1.100
“Hey
mountain chief, you have been appointed over here to monitor the entry of
Asuras living in Patala by Indra, the king of Devas”.
1.101
“You are
standing here closing the way to prevent
them from come up by
those powerful ones living in the vast Patala “.
1.102
“Oh!
Mountain , only you have the power to grow sideways and also bottom to the top. Hey, mountain chief, it is because of
this I have come here to speak to you, please get up.”
1.103
“This monkey
chief Hanuman is flying in the sky with great valor for doing a dangerous
errand to Lord Sri Rama. He is now going to come just above you”. 1.104
“ I need to
help him for all the descendents of Ikshu Vaku are worth worshipping by me
and therefore they are fit to be
worshipped by you also.” 1. 105
“We have to
do good and we should not leave it
undone for duties performed at the
correct time brings bad name to good people. “
1.106
“ Raise up
above the water level and let the great monkey who is our guest who is fit to
be worshipped stand on you for some time.”
1.107
“Oh mountain
with golden peaks, which are served by devas and Gandharvas., let Hanuman take
rest on you and go refreshed his
remaining way”. 1.
108
“You should
know the good qualities of Lord Rama, the parting pangs of his wife Sita and
also tiredness of Lord Hanuman, and try to raise up fast.” 1. 109
The Mainaka
Mountain which was full of forests, climbers and golden peaks listening to the
words of the ocean rose up fast.
1.110
That Mainaka
Mountain which was rising very high looked like the glittering Sun God with his
rays coming out piercing a thick cloud.
1.111
That
mountain which had great fame, ordered to thus by the God of ocean within a
very short time exhibited its peaks outside the water.
1.112
Those peaks
which were golden, pointed and very great ,resembled the rising Sun God and
appeared as if they were rubbing the sky, and the deep blue sky
tinted by the sparkling golden peaks looked as if it has become golden in
colour. 1. 113-1.-114
The mountain
which had several peaks of innate glitter and of sparkling gold colour resembled
hundreds of Suns. 1.115
Rising above
by itself in the middle of salty ocean
and standing in front of him, Hanuman thought that it was an obstacle. 1. 116
That fast
moving monkey chief easily brushed
off its tall peaks as if wind brushes of the cloud.
1.117
That
mountain which was pushed aside by the monkey, was astonished by his strength
and also became happy because of it.
1.118
That
mountain which stood tall in the sky, became happy and took a human form, stood
on his own peak and said as follows to the valorous monkey:- 1. 119
“Hey great
monkey you have done some thing which other people cannot do.” 1.120
“Please get
down on to my peaks and relax.”
1.121
“The ocean
was remade by the ancestors of Lord Rama, and the Ocean God worships you who is
engaged in the job of helping Rama as an act of gratefulness.” 1.122
“We always
have to repay, the good done to us. This is the perennial duty of our religion.
So he wants to help you and make you beholden to him.” 1. 123
“He
requested me with respect to provide a resting place to you in my pleasant
valley so that you need not jump at a stretch the one hundred yojanas and then
easily jump the rest of the way. And so hey,
great monkey you please stay on me for some time, take rest and then
proceed. “
1.124-1.125
“Hey monkey
chief, savor the very tasty roots and fruits lovingly offered by the God of
Ocean , and you can proceed very much refreshed soon.” 1.126
“ Hey monkey
chief, you know that receiving and showering hospitality on good people is a
blessed act in all the three worlds and apart from that, you do have another connection with me.”
1.127
“Hey monkey
chief, I consider you the greatest among all those monkeys who can move fast
and jump very high.”
1.128
“It is well
known that those learned ones who desire
to perform right full acts , that even if a guest is not a great one he is fit
to be worshipped. Then what to say when
the guest happens to be a great person like you.”
1.129
“Hey great
monkey, you are the son of Vayu (the wind god) who is great among the devas and
equal in speed to him.
1. 130
“Hey holy
one, if you are worshipped the Wind God receives it himself and please also
hear about another reason why you are fit to be worshipped by me,” 1. 131
“Hey son,
during Krutha Yuga Mountains also had wings and they were traveling to all
places like Wind and Garuda.”
1.132
“Because the
mountains were traveling all over the great sages and society of devas who were with them as
well as all living beings, were terror struck because of the fear that these
mountains may fall on them.”
1.133
“Because of
this reason, Devendra who had done one hundred fire sacrifices, became enraged
and starting to cut the wings of the mountains in to pieces in different places
using his Vajrayudha (Diamond equipment literally). “ 1.134
“That angry
Devendra intent on cutting my wings neared me
but the great wind god blew me away fast from that place. “
1.135
“Your father
pushed me inside this salt sea without any harm coming to my wings and
thus, I alone was saved.”
1.136
“And so I
worship you because I should have
worshipped the God of wind. And Monkey
chief , you know that this connection
between both of us is really great.”
1.137
“And so
Monkey chief , because of this accept the hospitality provided by me and the
Ocean God and bless us.”
1. 138
“Hey chief
of monkeys, relax and take rest and accept our worship, and also accept our
love. and I have become happy by meeting with you. “ 1.139
Thus told by
the great mountain the great monkey said” I am pleased with your hospitality.
You have provided all the hospitality to me and I have accepted it.” 1.140
“The time
for performance of my duty is getting over and also the day light hours are
nearing to an end. Apart from this I have given my word that I will not tarry
in between doing this great work.”
1.141
Thus telling
the valorous monkey chief Hanuman patted
the mountain on its peaks and with a smile re entered the sky and recommenced
his journey.
1.142
That monkey
who was the son of wind God was seen off
with respect by the mountain as well as the ocean and was worshipped by
them by suitable wishes. 1.143
After this
he left the mountain and ocean and traveled high and started to go forward by
the path of his father and started traveling in the clear sky. 1.144
The son of
Wind God further rose up and moving in the right direction and started
traveling without any support in the clear sky.
1.145
Witnessing
this almost impossible second act being performed, all Sidhas, devas and sages
appreciated him.
1. 146
Seeing the
great act of the golden peaked Mainaka mountain, all the devas and Devendra who
were there in the sky, became extremely happy. 1. 147
The great
Indra with his ebbing happiness and with stuttering voice due to that told the following words to Mainaka ,the mountain chief.
1.148
“ Hey golden
peaked king of the mountains, I have become very pleased with you.” 1.149
“Hey ,
pleasant one I have given you my protection.” 1.
150
“You have
provided help in the right time to valorous Hanuman who is fearless even when
there was a need to be afraid.“
1. 151
“This monkey
is going in the service of Lord Rama who is the son of Dasaratha and because of
your hospitality to him, I am extremely pleased. “ 1.152
Because of
these words, the mountain chief understood that even Indra the king of devas
was pleased with him and became very happy.
1.153
Thus the
mountain chief stood there firmly and Hanuman was moving extremely fast over
the ocean.
1.154
At that time
the devas ,Gandharwas , Sidhas and the great sages seeing the fast moving
monkey chief in the sky, told Surasa the mother of Nagas (serpents) who had the
splendor of the Sun thus.
1. 155
.”This great
Hanuman who is the son of the god of Wind is flying over the sea. Please take a
ferocious rakshasa form which touches the sea, which is like mountain and with red eyes and vampire like teeth and
delay his progress.”
1. 156-1.157
“ We want to
know (test) for the second time, his strength and virility and also would like
to see whether he will win you over by trick or become dejected.” 1.158
Thus
requested and respected by the devas, Surasa devi took an unusual ugly fear
creating form which is more suitable to the rakshasas and stood in the middle of the sea and neared
Hanuman and spoke to him thus:-
1. 159-1.160
“Hey monkey,
you have been allotted as food to me by the devas and so I am going to eat you.
Enter my open mouth.”
1.161
Thus spoken
to the great Hanuman, saluting her and
with a pleasant face spoke to her thus:-
1.162
“Rama the
son of Dasaratha came to the Dandakaranya forest along with his brother
Lakshmana and his wife Sita and was living there.”
1.163
“He earned
the enmity of Rakshasas and when he was otherwise engaged, Ravana abducted his
wife the renowned Sita.”
1. 164
“As per the
orders of Rama I am going as an emissary in search of her. You who are a
citizen in the kingdom of Rama are
also bound to help him out.” 1.165
“Or else I
promise you that after seeing Sita and also Rama who is very much worried, I would come to you and reach
your mouth.” 1.
166
Thus
requested by Hanuman, Surasa Devi who could take any form she wished , said to
him” None can cross me and this is a boon given to me by the devas.” 1.167
With a
desire to know the strength of Hanuman, Surasa Devi the mother of Nagas further
said” You can only go from here after entering my mouth. This is a boon given
to me by Lord Brahma. “Saying this she enlarged the size of her mouth greatly
opened it wide and stood before him.
1.168-1.169
Angered by
the words of Surasa, Hanuman told her “ Make your mouth suitably big so that
you can swallow me.”
1.170
Telling her
thus, Hanuman became ten Yojanas big as Surasa was at that time ten yojanas
big.
1.171
Observing
that he has grown to ten Yojanas Surasa enlarged her mouth to twenty
yojanas.
1.172
The very
intelligent Hanuman seeing that she has opened her mouth to twenty yojanas,
became angry and took up the form of thirty yojanas. 1. 173
Seeing this
Surasa made her mouth forty yojanas wide. 1.174
The valorous
Hanuman became fifty yojanas big.
1.175
Surasa made
her mouth sixty yojanas wide and Hanuman became seventy yojanas big.
1.176
Surasa made
her mouth eighty yojanas wide.
1.177
The mountain
like Hanuman made himself ninety yojanas big. 1.178
Surasa Devi
made her mouth one hundred yojanas wide. 1.179
Very
intelligent and wise Hanuman seeing the wide open mouth of Surasa with protruding
toungue , very fearful and similar to hell, instead of increasing his size
further, started reducing himself fast and like a wind driven cloud became as
big as a thumb. 1.180-1.181
With great
speed, the great one entered her mouth and suddenly came out and standing
in the sky itself told the following
words:-
1.182
“Hey Dakshayani(daughter of Daksha) my salutations
to you. I have entered your mouth and so taking this as the truth, allow me to
go to the place where Sita lives.”
1.183
Seeing
Hanuman like the moon which has come out of the mouth of Rahu, Surasa took her
real form and told him, “ Hey, son, Her monkey chief, Let you have a pleasant
journey and let your errand be
successful.. Please become happy after reuniting Rama and Sita.” 1.184-1.185
All beings
witnessing the third and impossible task of Hanuman and praised the monkey chief and said “Great,
great.”
1.186
Equivalent
in speed to Garuda , he left the sea which is the abode of Varuna and which was very difficult to cross,
and rose above to the sky and traveled further. 1.187
Hanuman then
traveled like Garuda in the sky which is served by the rain drops, in which the
birds live, peopled by Gandharwas like Thuumburu[3]
who sing ragas like kaisika, in which rainbows exist, in which aero planes
which travel high on vehicles such as
lion, elephant, tiger, birds snake and crocodile exist, which is well
decorated, which is being lit by fire of
Vajrayudha , thunder and lightning, Which is populated by people who do good
deeds and those great ones who have won over heavens, Which is being constantly served by Agni the
fire God who is being fed by the portions to be given to devas, Which is full
with Sun, moon, planets and stars. Which is filled by sages, Yakshas, Gandarwas
and Nagas, Which is really great, which is very clear, which is full, In which
Viswavasu the king of Gandarwas travels, in which the elephant of Devendra
travels, Which is the way of Sun and the moon, which does always good, Which is
the roof constructed by Lord Brahma for all living beings and Which is populated by great valorous
vidhyadaras.
1.188-1.194
Like the
wind he also dragged the clouds with him.
1.195
Attracted by
the monkey chief the clouds shined in black and also red, yellow and white
colours.
1.196
That
monkey who was entering and coming out
of the clouds looked like the moon of the rainy season which is completely
invisible and visible at different times. 1. 197
Hanuman the
Son of God of wind, looked like a winged mountain visible from all places in
the support less sky.
1.198
A
Rakshasi(ogress) called Simhika who can assume any form she likes saw the fast
moving Hanuman and thought in her mind
thus.
1. 199
“ In the
very long time which has past , only today I am going to eat proper and
sufficient food for after a long time an animal of this size has come my
way.” 1.200
Thinking
thus in her mind she dragged Hanuman’s shadow
and once his shadow was caught Hanuman started thinking thus.
1. 201
“ Like a
torrential wind of the sea blowing
against , a big ship slows it down, my strength has reduced and I am being
stopped. “
1.202
Then the
monkey peered all round, to the top, below and saw a very large being floating in the sea.
1.203
Examining it
carefully, he thought, “This must be the fearsome and big being , as told by
the king of Monkeys Sugreeva, which can drag one’s shadow and I do not have any
doubt about it.”
1.204
That wise
and intelligent monkey recognized her as Simhika and started increasing his
size like the black cloud in rainy season.
1. 205
Seeing the
increasing size of monkey chief’s body, She opened her mouth ,which was like
Patala and the sky very wide.
1.206
Thundering
like a series of clouds she started chasing the monkey. 1.
207
That wise
monkey saw her throat through her widely open mouth , he also saw the big size
of her body and her Achilles Heel[4].
1.208
Slightly
reducing his body’s size, he fell with lot of force and like thunder in to her
wide-open throat.
1. 209
The Sidhas
and Charanas (celestial beings) saw him
vanish in his throat like the moon vanishing on full moon, eclipse days
1.210
With his
sharp nails he tore her Achilles
heel and with the speed of wind and mind
came out of it . 1.211
The fearless
monkey chief Hanuman thus killed her by his quick power of thinking, valor. and
capacity to take right decisions at right time and started increasing in his
size.
1. 212
Because the
monkey tore apart her chest she fell down dead in to the sea. Is it that
Hanuman was created by Brahma to kill her!
1.213
Seeing how
fast he killed Simhika, those beings who live in the sky told monkey chief thus:-
1.214
“Hey , great
monkey , you have now done a very great deed . A great animal is dead. We all
wish you to complete the job that you have undertaken without any
problems. 1.215
“Hey monkey
chief, if any one has your four
qualities of valor, wisdom, intelligence
and quick thought process, he would never face any problems in completing his
job. 1.216
Understanding
the meaning of their words, respected by all of them, he reached the sky again
and moved forward.
1. 217
Once he
completed traveling one hundred Yojanas, he almost reached the other shore and
seeing in all directions he saw a very big forest.
1.218
Traveling in
the sky itself he saw the island
decorated by very many kinds of trees, the Malaya Mountain and its sub
forests.
1.219
That heroic
and intelligent Hanuman, examined the sea, seashores, the trees on the sea
shore, the rivers, which were the wives of the sea and ports as also his big cloud like body, which
was hiding the sky and thought.
1.220-1.221
“ Seeing the
big growth of my body and its torrential speed, the Rakshasas would get curious
about me”. Thus thought the monkey chief. 1.222
He then
reduced his mountain like size of his body, and took his real form like, the
great sage from whom ignorance has been
removed.
1.223
He further
reduced his size and resembled the great Vamana who destroyed the pride of King
Mahabali by measuring three steps.
1.224
That Hanuman
who can assume many pretty forms reached the sea shore examined his stature
himself and thinking about the job that he has to do , assumed a form that is suitable for the job and became one who cannot be defeated
by others. 1.225
From
there the great Hanuman who was like a
big mountain range landed in the Lamba (hanging) mountain, which had
pretty fertile peaks full of pandanus ,
coconut and Karnikara (some herb) plants.
1.226
That Hanuman
reached the seashore and saw the city of
Lanka, which was on the Trikoota(three spire) mountain and reduced his stature
to the minimum required size and
bullying the animals and birds jumped
from the mountain. 1.227
Hanuman with
his immense strength crossing the great
ocean, which was populated, by Danavas and Pannagas jumped on the other shore
and saw The city of Lanka which was
similar to the city of Amaravathi, the capital of Indra. 1. 228
Thus ends the first chapter of Sundara Kanda which,
is in the Ramayana
which is the first epic written by
Valmiki.
2.Entering in to the city of Sri
Lanka at night
(In this
chapter the musings of Hanuman on seeing the city of Sri Lanka, his first
impressions about it and his thinking on the strategy he has to adopt is described)
It is
wonderful that the great one crossed the great ocean, which was impossible to
cross, and stared at Sri Lanka situated
on the top of Trikoota Mountains. 2. 1
By the rain
of flowers shed by the different trees here and there, Hanuman who was decked
by flowers all over after completing the task he has undertaken looked as if he
was a victorious hero.
2.2
The truly
heroic Hanuman though he had crossed one hundred yojanas did not know what is
tiresomeness. Not only that he was not even breathing with effort.. 2.3
“I can jump
and cross several more hundred yojanas and so reaching the other shore of a sea
which is only one hundred yojanas is not
a great job!” He thought. 2.4
The great
one among heroes and the fastest among
those who can jump, crossed the sea and
neared the city of Sri Lanka.
2.5
He walked in to the center of gardens which had light bluish lawns, strewn with
stones here and there and with dense population of trees
2. 6
That very
resplendent monkey chief Hanuman, went by the side of mountains full of
trees and forests in full bloom. 2.7
That son of
wind God , stood on a mountain with several peaks and saw
the city of Sri Lanka laden with the gardens and minor forests . 2.8
He , the
monkey chief , saw pine trees, Karnikara[5]
trees , date palms, Priyala trees, lemon trees, wild jasmine trees, panadanus
bushes(Thazham poo) , incense filled long pepper trees, kadamba trees , seven
leafed banana trees, fully flowered asana trees, Kovidara trees, karavira
trees, and also many trees bent with heavy load of flowers which were full
of birds and whose tips were being
shaken by the breeze that was blowing all around, ponds full of swans and ducks , lotus and lily flowers
and many, many tree filled gardens which
flowered and fruited all round the year, many swimming pools specially
constructed for play and also several pretty flower gardens. 2. 9-2.12
The great Hanuman then saw the
beautiful city of Sri Lanka which
resembled the city of Amaravathi of the devas and which was being ruled by
Ravana . protected on all the four sides by Ravana himself, fearsome
archers, and ever roaming Rakshasas because
Sita was abducted and kept in the city, and which was also protected well by moats full of lotus and lily flowers and gold like tall
walls all around. It also had mansions which resembled the planets the autumn
sky, dazzling white elevated long wide avenues, strange golden tower gates
decorated by climbers and other decorative items, many spires used to keep
watch on the enemies from out side, flags
and other banners. 2. 13-2.18.
That monkey
chief thought the city, which was built
on the mountain as a city with white and regal houses , which were floating in
the sky.
2.19
He saw the
city built by Viswa Karma(the architect of Devas) and ruled by Ravana was
flying in the sky. 2.20
He
approached the northern gate of Sri Lanka whose fort aments appeared as if they
were the waist, whose moats appeared as
if they were dresses, whose guns and spears appeared as if they were the hairs
and whose spires appear as if they were the ear studs
and which was constructed by Viswa Karma after deep thought, which appeared as
tall as the Kailasa mountain(abode of Lord Siva) and which appeared as if it was touching the sky,
and whose buildings are constructed one
over another so that it appeared
as if the whole city was flying, which was thickly populated by terrible
Rakshasas like the city of Bhogavathi which was
populated by Nagas, which is strongly built, which does not have dirt,
which was once occupied by Lord Kubera, which is protected by several valorous
Rakshasas who were armed with spears and long swords similar to a cave being
protected by serpents and which can never be evaluated as to what it is and
started thinking. 2.21-2.25
Observing
the fierce security , the sea and the terrible enemy Ravana, the monkey started
thinking.
2.26
“Even if the
monkey army reaches here it would not be of any use, for even devas cannot wage
a war and win over Lanka.”
2.27
“Even if
Rama reaches the very peculiar city of
Sri Lanka which is really impossible to enter and is ruled by Ravana, what possibly can the great warrior
do?” 2.28
“In case of
Rakshasas, there is no point in talking to them in a friendly manner or with
sweet words nor can they be corrupted by money and nor is it possible to make
them fight against each other and the only option of war cannot even be thought
of as a possibility. “
2.29-2.30
“This is because
only Angadha the son of Bali, Neela the
monkey chief , the heroic king Sugreeva and myself can enter this city.”
2.31
“:Let me
find out whether Sita the daughter of Janaka is alive or not and after seeing
her I can thinking of a strategy.”
2. 32
“I can not
enter this city of Rakshasas and which
is protected by them in the present form”
2.33
“These
Rakshasas are highly valorous, very
strong and greatly heroic and so can
only be deceived by me who am searching Sita.”
2.34
“ I should
search the city of Sri Lanka with an almost invisible form and
that too in the night because for completing this great deed , it is the
most appropriate time.” 2.35
Knowing that
, even Devas and Asuras would find difficult to enter that city, Hanuman took
several deep breaths and started thinking.
2.36
“What trick
should I employ to search so that I would not be visible to Ravana the bad
Rakshasas?”
2.37
“The job
which I have taken oath to complete should certainly be done and also I should be able to talk with the
daughter of Janaka alone” thought he. 2. 38
“When a job
has to be done , sending a messenger who is unstable and who cannot do the proper thing at the proper
time, is like having darkness at dawn.” 2. 39
“Even
after knowing well as to what has to be
done and what should not be done, there is no possibility of completing the job
if the messenger is over confident and
thinks that he only can complete the
job.”
2.40
“How will
the job be completed properly? How no problems will crop up preventing its
completion? And what should be done so that crossing of the great ocean does
not become a waste?”
2.41
“Suppose I
am seen by the Rakshasas then the wish
of Lord Rama to Kill Ravana can definitely not be done. “
2.42
“Even if one
takes the form of Rakshasa is it
possible to hide from these Rakshasas and if it is in any other form this task
would definitely not be done.” 2.43
“I know the
fact that even the God of Wind cannot move here unhindered.. Is there anything
that these powerful Rakshasas do not know?” 2.44
“If I remain
here with my present form I will be destroyed and Lord’s mission will surely
fail.”
2.45
“So I will
go as a dwarf but in my present
form and enter the city at night to
complete the mission of Sri Rama.”
2.46
“After
entering the unapproachable city of Ravana, then I can search all houses and
buildings for the daughter of Janaka.”
2.47
At that time
thinking thus , anxious to see Sita (daughter of King Videha) He started waiting for the
sunset.
2. 48
After
sunset and in the night Hanuman the Son
of God of wind, assumed a very minute strange form as big as a cat.
2.49
That
valorous Hanuman jumped and entered with lot of speed the beautiful city with
clearly demarcated avenues .
2. 50
That monkey
saw that big city which resembled the city of Gandarwas which was full of
palatial buildings built on pillars inlaid with silver and gold, having windows
made of gold, having seven to eight stories and having floors decorated by gold
and crystal. 2. 51-2.52
Diamonds and
other precious stones decorated those grounds of the houses of Rakshasas and
several garlands of pearls were used to decorate them. 2.53
The strange
wall hangings made of gold , which was
used to decorate all over, the city by the Rakshasas made the city glitter in
eminence.
2.54
Though the
Great monkey became happy on seeing the city which had very big white buildings
which had windows made of gold of the purest quality, which was surrounded by
very powerful night patrol, which was being protected by the great valor of
Ravana, which cannot be described by ones thought process and which is
surprisingly beautiful. He felt dejected because he was mainly interested in
seeing Sita.. 2.55-2.56
The moon
also making up his mind to help Hanuman, rose up along with its thousands of
rays ,decorating the roof of
the world with moonlight , in the middle of the stars and along with
them.
2.57
That monkey
hero saw the moon who was having the luster of a conch, having the colour of
milk and lotus stem and who was shining above
as if he was a swan swimming in the lotus pond.
2.58
Thus ends the second
chapter of Sundara Kanda which
is in the Ramayana which is
the first epic written by Valmik
3. Victory over the goddess of Sri
Lanka
( The stopping of Hanuman by the Goddess of
Lanka and his victory over her)
Hanuman the
monkey chief who is the son of the God
of Wind , who is remarkably intelligent
and strong, and who was on the Lamba
mountain which was as big as a cloud ,prepared with courage to enter the city
of Lanka which had pretty gardens and lakes and
which was also protected by Ravana .
3.1-3.2
Hanuman saw
the city which was shining like the
clouds of autumn, which had the booming
sound of ocean, where sea breeze wafts continuously, , which was similar to Alakapuri the capital
of Kubhera[6],
which was full of enthusiastic army, which had very regal and pretty tower
gates, which had a white decorated gate way, which was protected like
Bhogawathi the city of serpents, which was great, which was having clouds like
the streak of lightning, which reached up to the path of stars, which was
similar to Amaravathi the city of Devendra, which had cool breeze, which was
surrounded by big golden walls, which had the jingling sound of bells, and
which was decorated by flags, again and
again and with thoughtful surprise
neared it and with happiness and force jumped and climbed its walls. 3.3-3.8
Hanuman saw
with pleasure the city of Sri Lanka
.which had Gates made of gold, which had
floors on which precious gems were embedded, which had majestic towers
that appeared to fly and were made of
gold in which diamonds, crystals, pearls and other precious gems were embedded,
which had courtyards and houses made of molten gold and decorated by silver and
thus appearing white , which had steps
made of precious gems interspersed with powder of crystals through which
swans walked hither and thither, which was filled with sounds of Krouncha (mythical
birds) birds and pea cocks , which had
many musical instruments which
when played were making
reverberating sounds and which was like the city of Indra touching the
sky . 3.9-3.12
That heroic
Hanuman seeing the splendorous , rare and richly endowed city of the chief Rakshasas thought like
this.
3.13
“Protected
by the army of Ravana which has kept all arms in readiness, this city can not be conquered by anyone using his strength.”
3.14
“This
perhaps can be entered only by the famous Kumuda, Angadha, the great monkeys
Sushena, Mainda and Dwividha .
3.15
“This could
be entered possibly by Sugreeva the son
of Sun, Kusa Parva the monkey, Jambhavan the bear, Kethumala and myself.”
3.16
“He then
remembered about the great valor and
masculinity of the great heroes Rama and
Lakshmana and became pleased.” 3. 17
Hanuman saw
that famous decorated city which had palace like buildings from which darkness
was removed , which was complete and which did not have any deficiencies and which looked like a
young lady who wore the glitter of gems
as her dress, the pretty stables as ear studs and who had the
workshops of the city as breasts. 3.18-3.19
Then the
city goddess took her actual form and
saw the very strong, monkey chief who was the son of the wind god entering the city.
3.20
That Goddess
of Lanka City who was looked after by Ravana saw the monkey chief and appeared with a
grotesque face.
3.21
She stood in
front of the valorous son of wind god
and with a booming loud voice spoke to the son of wind.
3.22
“Who are
you? Why have you come here? Tell that
which is the truth ,for then only your
soul will continue to exist”
3.23
“This city
of Lanka is protected on all the four sides by the invisible soldiers of Ravana
and so definitely you cannot enter it.”
3.24
Then the
valorous Hanuman replied to her who was in front of him,” I would tell the
truthful answer to what you have asked.” 3.25
“By the way
who are you? Why are seeing me cruelly? Why are you dangerously bullying me?
But also why are you standing near the gate?” 3.26
That lady of
Lanka who was capable of taking any form she liked hearing the words of
Hanuman, addressed the son of wind God with hatred thus:- 3.27
“I am one
who obey the orders of Ravana , the all powerful king of Rakshasas and . I cannot be won over by anybody and I protect
this city.” 3.
28
“Hey monkey,
you cannot enter here disregarding me. Now itself you are going to sleep after
loosing your soul after I kill you.” 3. 29
“ Monkey, I
am the city of Lanka and I alone guard it with utmost care and I am telling
this to you only.”
3.30
Hearing the
words of Sri Lanka, Hanuman the monkey chief who was the son of Wind God,
became sad and stood like another mountain.
3.31
He who is an
expert and the greatest among those who can jump facing
her who has taken a feminine form, spoke to her softly like this:-
3.32
“I am going
to see this city which has forts, spires and towers. I have come here only for
this as I am interested in it.” 3.33
“My coming
to this city of Lanka is to enable me to see the gardens, forests ,fields and
mansions.”
3. 34
That Lanka
Rakshasi who can take any form she likes, even after hearing the words of
Hanuman, still spoke to him in a harsh manner.
3.35
“Hey bad
monkey , without winning over me who am
guarding this city , you cannot enter in to it.”
3.36
Then the
great monkey facing the Rakshasi told her, “Lady, I will just see the city and
go away.”.
3.37
Then the
Goddess of Lanka shouted uproariously and with great strength beat the chief of
the monkeys.
3.38
Having been beaten by the lady of Lanka, that
monkey chief who was a hero and also the
son of wind God roared in a very high pitch.
3.39
Then Hanuman
forgetting himself because of anger, folding his fingers hit her strongly with his left fist.
3.40
Because he
knew that she was a lady he did not show his anger too much. 3.41
That
Rakshasi because of the fist punch suddenly fell down on the ground with broken
limbs, horrible face and showed her real form.
3.42
Because of
the knowledge that she was a woman,
seeing her fallen on the ground Hanuman looked at her with mercy.
3.43
After this
that Goddess of Lanka with stuttering voice and devoid of pride told him the following words.
3.44
“Hey, great
hero, please show mercy on me. Hey ,Monkey chief who is soft by nature, please
save me. Good people of great strength always are stable in showing
justice.“ 3.45
“Hey, very
strong monkey chief, I am myself the Goddess of the city of Lanka and a great
hero, and you have defeated me by your prowess.” 3.46
“Hey, Lord
of the monkeys, I am telling you truly about the boon given to me by Brahma
himself. And so please hear.”
3. 47
“The day
when a monkey defeats you by his prowess, then you please understand without
doubt that bad time has come to the Rakshasas.” 3.48
“ Hey
graceful one, by your sight, I surely understand that the time has come to me..
Whatever has been told by Brahma is the truth for no change can come to
it.” 3.49
“The final
end has come near to the bad soul Ravana and his Rakshasas due to Sita.” 3.50
“And so
monkey chief, enter this city protected by Ravana and do there whatever you wish to do.”
3.51
“So you who
are the Lord of the monkeys, please enter this good town ruled by the Rakshasa
king, which is badly affected by the curses, and search for the daughter of
Janaka properly..”
3.52
Thus ends the third chapter of Sundara Kanda which
is in the Ramayana which is the first epic
written by Valmiki
4. Travel inside the city of Lanka
( Description of his impressions of the city
of Sri Lanka)
That
Resplendent monkey chief and great Hero Hanuman winning over the great goddess
of City of Lanka, who in her valor
could take any shape that she wishes, entered the city by jumping over the wall
and not by crossing the gate. 4.1
Hanuman who
always does good deeds to the king of
monkeys ,Sugreeva, entered the city and placed his left leg on the head of his
enemy.
4.2
That monkey
who was the son of the God of wind and who has entered the city at night,
reached the main avenue of the city which was decorated by precious gems and
flowers. and he saw round the city with extreme courage. 4.3-4.4
That city
which was full of music created by drums and which was full of sounds of
happiness, had a lot of great buildings with windows decorated by diamonds like
the great elephant of deva loka and looked like the sky decorated by
clouds. 4. 5
That city
shined with the good houses of the crowd
of Rakshasas
4.6
That city
with buildings of the type Padmam (lotus), Swasthikam(like swastika) and with
palaces like Vardhamanam(ever increasing) had many beautifully constructed good
houses and shined greatly like the sky
by its clouds .
4. 7
Hanuman who
does only good service to the King of monkeys ,
with an intention of completing the work of Sri Rama, completely saw that city which was decorated
by pictures, garlands and ornaments and became happy. 4.8
That Son of
God of wind, who was going from one
house to another house saw houses of
many sizes and shapes all over.
4.9
He heard the
three sweet musical sounds of Thara, Madhyama and Manthra, which emanated from
head, throat and belly respectively from the voluptuous ladies who were like
the Apsara (court dancers) of deva loka. 4.10
In the
houses of Lords, sounds of the waist
belt, sounds made of anklets, sounds while climbing stairs. Sounds of clapping
hands and enthusiastic shouts were heard here and there.4. 11
He also
heard sound of chanting of Manthras(Sacred poems) from the houses of
Rakshasas.
4.12
He also saw
Rakshasas who were experts in the knowledge of Vedas and also them who were
shouting poems in praise of Ravana. 4.13
He also saw
several spies among the great army of Rakshasa
who were standing round the main avenue of the city.
4.14
He also
saw those who were doing penance for
performing Yaga, those with uncut hair, those whose head was shaved off
completely, those who had covered themselves with hide of cow, those who had
one hand full of Durbha grass as weapons,
those who had fire pits as weapons, those who had spear and thorn
pointed stick as weapons, those who had ordinary sticks as weapons, those who
had only one eye, those who had only one ear, those who had hanging stomachs
and chests, those who were fierce looking archers,those who carried swords,
those who had slanted mouth, those who carried pestle and mortars as weapons,
those who were handicapped, those who were dwarfs, those who carried big steel rods,
those who shined in peculiar shirts made of steel, those who were not very
fat, those who were not very thin, those
who were tall, those who were dwarf, those who were very white, those who were
very black, those who were very hunch backed, those who were midgets, those who
were ugly looking, those who were in different shapes, those who were handsome,
those who were holding flags, those who were holding small flags, those who
were having trees and spears as weapons,
those who were having mace as weapon and also those who were carrying different type of
weapons.
4.15-4.20
That great
monkey further saw those who had in their hands rope and a stone, those who
were wearing garlands, those who had applied perfumes, those who were wearing
costly ornaments, those who were wearing different types of dresses, those who
had joined the army in their free will, those who were carrying many sharp
spears and those who were very strong people and carried the Vajrayudha(ace made of
diamond) 4.21-4.22
Before the
harem he saw lakhs of very careful
sentries appointed by the king of Rakshasas.
4.23
Then the
monkey chief saw the very famous and huge palace of the king of Rakshasas
constructed on the mountain top, surrounded by walls and moats full of lotus flowers which had a very precious golden tower.
4.24-4.25
The great
monkey entered the beautiful palace of the king of Rakshasas which was pretty,
which was similar to heaven, which was echoing divine sounds, which was full of
sounds of horses, which had the jingling sound of ornaments, which was
protected by chariots, palanquins, planes, wonderful horses bringing only good
and four tusked elephants which were
like a series of white clouds and which
was decorated by thick fat animals and birds and which was protected in all
sides by Rakshasas. 4.26-4.30
That Hanuman
entered the harem of Ravana which had
surrounding walls made of gold and silver, which was decorated by costly pearls and other precious stones and
which was full of scented smoke emanating from good quality myrrh and
sandalwood. 4. 31
Thus ends the
fourth chapter of Sundara Kanda which
is in the Ramayana which is
the first epic written by Valmiki
5. Seeing of Rakshasa and Rakshasis
( Hanuman is searching the houses and streets
of Lanka for Sita and is able to see many women but not her.)
Then the
intelligent Hanuman, saw the moon, which was in the center of the sky, which
was with rays and which was spreading the sheet of moon light, like an
enthusiastic bull wandering in its stable.
5.1
Then he saw
the moon, which destroys the sorrows of the world, which increased the levels
of the great sea and which traveled by giving light to all beings. 5. 2
That Goddess
Lakshmi who shined normally on the Mandara Mountain of earth, in the sea during
dusk and on the lotus in the ponds, at
that time shined sitting on the moon. 5.3
The moon in
the sky was similar to the swan in the
sliver cage, lion in the caves of Mandhara Mountain and the heroic soldier
sitting on proud elephant. 5.4
The moon,
which was full of all its crescents, resembled the bullock with its sharpened
horns, the silver mountain with its peaks, and
the elephant whose tusks were decorated by gold.
5.5
That moon
who did not loose the luster due to dense dew drops, who had borrowed light
from the sun by which he drove away darkness, who was serving the luminous
Lakshmi in his crystal clear mien and who had the rabbit mark, shined in the
sky. 5. 6
The moon
shone with great light like the lion climbing on the stone clusters, like the
great elephant reaching the war and like the king getting his kingdom. 5.7
The early
part of night, was devoid of darkness due to rise of the moon and was tainted
by the eating of meat food by the Rakshasas and was full of lovers joining
together after romantic quarrels. 5.8
At that time
musical instruments like Veena gave strumming sounds from their strings, which
was sweet to the ears and virtuous wives
were sleeping with their husbands and Rakshasas started wandering about with very wonderful and horrible acts. 5. 9
The
intelligent monkey chief saw many houses where people were in the trance
induced by consuming alcohol and which had garages for chariots, elephant and
horse stables. 5.10
Those tipsy
ones were teasing each other, placing their stout hands on each other and were
shouting vulgar words at each other.
5.11
Those
Rakshasas were baring their chest, putting their body on their sweet hearts,
assuming various shapes and leaving free the tightly held bows. 5.12
He also
saw several well made up maidens, some
ladies who were sleeping, some who were laughing and some who were upset and very angry. 5. 13
That
city was full of trumpeting of
elephants, well-honoured friends, gasping heroes and hissing snakes.
5. 14
He also saw
their some Rakshasas who were very intelligent, who talked sweetly, who were
full of attention, who were considered noble in this world , who were made up
in different manners and who had very good names.
5. 15
That Hanuman
became very pleased on seeing them who
were handsome people, who had all sort of good qualities and who were looking
good and suitable to their good qualities. He also saw some ugly people who had
made up themselves so as to look as handsome. 5.16
He saw
many star like women who were pretty,
who had a very clean mind, who were of
good character, who were well known, who in spite being drunk were passionate
towards their husbands.
5. 17
He also saw
many woman like the birds hidden by
flowers, who were shining because of their
wealth, who were very shy, who were attracted by tremendous passion and to whom
their husbands were making passionate love in the mid of night. 5.18
The
intelligent Hanuman also saw some married women sitting in comfort on the laps
of their husbands ,who were making passionate love with their husbands and putting on nice behavior because of good
upbringing, some who were having
interest in Dharma and some who were sitting at the top of their houses. 5.19
That monkey
chief Hanuman, saw also many women with the colour of the flash of gold and
some with the colour of molten gold, some
noble ladies with out the upper cloth covering them, some with very pretty sensual organs with
attractive colour, some who are of the colour of the moon because they were
separated from their lovers, some who were glowing in light because they have
got the lovers of their choice and also many happy and very pretty girls in those houses.
5.20-5.21
He also saw
some with faces as pretty as the full moon, some with curved eyelids over
pretty eyes and some with ornaments like the flash of lightning. 5.22
But he did
not see Sita who was brought up in a royal family of good
lineage, who had very high celestial
birth, who was with a body like a fully developed climbing plant and who was born outside the womb as per her
will. 5.23
He became
extremely sad and felt foolish because in spite of a long search he was not in a position of being able to locate Sita who permanently
dwells in the path of justice, who had very pretty eyes, who was full of
love, who for ever lived in the mind of
her husband, who was anytime much greater than any great lady, who was
suffering because of the absence of her husband, who had a neck made wet with
tears, who in earlier days used to wear dollar hanging from her neck, who was like a peahen
which with its very pretty wings
was dancing in the forest , who was like a faded crescent of the moon, who was
like a piece of gold dimmed by dust, who was like the wound[7]
pierced by an arrow and who was the wife
of Lord Rama who was greatest among those who speak and who was lord of human
beings, 5.24-5.27
Thus ends the fifth chapter of Sundara Kanda which
is in the Ramayana which is
the first epic written by Valmiki.
6.Entering the house of Ravana
(Hanuman
enters the houses of nobles in the palace complex of Ravana and finally enters
the house of Ravana)
That monkey
who can take any form he liked thoughtfully wandered with speed in to the
different palatial houses of Sri Lanka.
6.1
Then that
Hanuman whom Lakshmi has showered her grace, reached the house of the king of
Rakshasas, which was surrounded by
walls, which glittered like Sunflower. 6. 2
Examining
the house protected by the Rakshasas like the lions protect the forest , the
monkey chief glistened with wonder .(or by the glitter of the houses) 6. 3
That monkey
chief saw the great one’s great house
which had pictures made of silver, which was decorated by gold, which had
towers , multiple buildings and pretty
gates, which was occupied by great elephants ridden by heroic soldiers and
chariot tied horses which cannot be controlled, which had chariots covered with
the hides of tiger and lion and were
made of ivory, gold and silver and had booming sound, which had forever moving
great mega chariots making huge sound inlaid with precious gems filled with
special weapons and vessels and occupied by great heroes , which was filled on all four sides by thousands of different types pretty and special animals
and birds ,which was saluted and cared
for by several Rakshasa sentries, Which was filled with many great ladies,
which was occupied by jewel like ladies who were happy, which was the house of
the king of Rakshasas, which was filled with booming sound of the ocean made by
the jingling of very special jewels, which was filled with luxurious objects
fit for great kings, which had perfumed objects like sandal and myrrh, which was occupied by large gathering of
people who were like the lions of a great forest, which had the noise created
by drums, cymbals etc, which was filled by the sound made by conches, which had
sacrificial performances for special
occasions conducted by Rakshasas, which had daily performed, which had non stop
celebrations, which had sounds like the tides of ocean and which had very good quality carpets made of
jewels. 6.4-6.13
That monkey
chief thought that the house which was glittering and which had elephants,
horses and chariots as an ornament if the city. Then Hanuman walked here and
there for some time near Ravana.
6.14-6.15
That monkey
went round and searched without fearing
the different houses of Rakshasas and also in their gardens and
palaces.
6.16
That great hero who had very great speed, jumped in to
the house of Prahastha and jumped from
there to the house of Mahaparswa.
6.17
From
there the monkey chief went to the cloud like house of
Kumbakarna and from there jumped to the
house of Vibhishana,
6.18
He then
jumped in to the houses of Mahodhara, Virupaksha. Vidyujihwa. Vidhyunmali and Vajra damshtra. 6.19
Like this
the great resplendent monkey went to the houses of Shuka, Charana the great hero Indrajit.
6.20
Like this
again he visited the houses of Jambumali, Sumali, Rasmikethu and Surya
shathru.
6.21
That monkey
chief who was the Son of God of Wind, jumped in to the houses of Vajarakaya,
Dhoomraksha and Sampathi.
6.22
The son of
the God of Wind visited one by one the houses of Bhima, Vidhyadhroopa, Ghana,
Vighana, Sukhanasa, Sasa, Vikata, Brhamakarna, Dhamshtra, Romasa, Rakshasa,
Yudhonmatha, Matha, Dwajagreeva, Nadhi, Athikaya, Aksha, Vidhyujjihwa, Indrajjihwa, Hasthimuka, Akambana, Karala,
Pisascha, Sonithaksha, Devanthaka, Naranthaka, Kumbha, Nikumbha, Ugravakthra,
and Ghoraand Ghorara. 6. 23-6.29
That famous
monkey chief saw the invaluable riches
in each of these rich people’s houses.
6.30
The lucky
Hanuman after seeing and searching these
houses on all four sides reached the house of the King of Rakshasas.
6.31
Hanuman who
was the most intelligent monkey of all, entered inside and saw the women
sentries with ugly eyes who were armed with spear and the thorn mace doing
their shift duty.
6.32
He also saw
very huge Rakshasas belonging to different regiments and armed with diverse
type of arms in the house of the
Rakshasa chief. 6.33
In that
house Hanuman saw horses which very
swift , pretty, red , white, armed sufficiently to do a battle and possessing
very high speed, and elephants which were capable of winning the elephants of the enemy which were trained in
the elephant discipline, which were capable of killing the army of the enemy,
which were like clouds equal to the
prowess of Iravatha, which were similar to the mountains giving birth to
several streams, Which were making sound like thunder, and which can never be
won over by the enemies. 6.34-6.36
That monkey
who son of Wind god saw in the house of Ravana the king of Rakshasas, thousands
of horses decorated with gold, several type of
gold plated palanquins which were like the young sun, several houses
covered with climbing plants, several art galleries, several houses of
entertainment, playing bulls made of wood, pretty houses of passion and several
houses to spend the day time. 6. 37-6.39
That Hanuman
saw the house of Ravana rivaling the house of Shiva the chief of beings, which
was similar to Mandara mountain, which had places for pea cocks , which was
full of flag poles, which was filled with thousands of jewels, where heaps of
treasures were lying about here and there and which had several art works made
of very great sculptors. 6.40-6.41
That house
due to the glitter of precious stones and because of Ravana’s prowess was shining like the sun because of its
rays.
6. 42
That monkey
warrior saw glittering golden cots and seats
as also several shining vessels. 6.43
Hanuman
entered that great palace which was full
of gem studded vessels which have become wet because they were used to serve
honey and alcoholic drinks, which was extensive like the very beautiful house of Kubera, which
was booming because of sounds made by the jingling of anklets, shaking sound of
waist belt, and the sounds made by drums
and cymbals, which had several houses, which was occupied by several jewel like
women and which had many architectural
marvels. 6.44-6.46
Thus ends the sixth chapter of Sundara Kanda which
is in the Ramayana which is
the first epic written by Valmiki.
7.Seeing Pushpaka Vimana
(Hanuman
when he searched the city further saw the Pushpaka Vimana and though he was
terribly attracted by it felt sad because he had not made any progress in
search of Sita)
That strong
Hanuman saw a row of houses which were
glittering during rainy season, which were having a flock of birds, which were
like a whiff of cloud and which had golden windows inlaid with diamonds. 7.1
In those
houses he saw avenues full of precious conch, arms and bow
and further he saw in those mountain like houses broad moon lit paths. 7.2
He also
saw houses which were won by their own
strength, which were free of all blemishes, which were being worshipped by
asuras and devas and which were glittering
by the several riches in them. 7. 3
He saw the
house of the king of Lanka which was
made as a result of great effort, which looked as if it was constructed by
Maya(The famous Rakshasa architect) and which was full of all luxuries in the
world.
7. 4
He saw the
very great house, which stood out, like clouds, which had the glitter of the prettiest
gold, which was fit to the strength of the king of rakshasas and which was
definitely very pretty.
7.5
He saw the
Pushpaka Vimana (literally flower like plane )which was like heaven descended
to the earth, which was shining because of its
wealth, which was full of flowers of several trees, which was covered by
pollen, which looked like the tip of the mountain, which was fit to be
worshipped, which was made greatly shining
similar to the streak of lightning in the clouds by presence of great
ladies, which was like the planes of people of good deeds floating in the sky,
which was being carried by great swans, which was similar to the tip of the
mountain painted using several colours, which was similar to the sky decorated
by the moon and the planets, which had many joined big pictures resembling the
clouds, and which had many paintings decorated by jewels. 7.6-7.8
In that
Vimana there was painting of the earth
with its mountains, painting of forests full of trees and the painting of lotus
flowers with its petals and sepals. 7.9
Not only
that , pictures of white mansions were painted on it , besides paintings
of pretty flower filled lakes , lotus
flowers with its tendrils and luxuriously growing forests. 7.10
That
great plane which was glittering by the shine of precious
stones and which was the greatest among the palaces was called Pushpaka. In it
were made several birds flying in the sky which was made of diamond, silver and
corals. Not only that horses of noble lineage which indicated prosperity and snakes were also made in it using several
types of precious jewels.
7.11-7.12
The Hanuman
again went near that plane and with wonder examined it. The birds made of coral
and gold with flower like wings were hung on it. These were with good, bent
drooping wings and had very pretty faces
They appeared as if they were the real helpers of the God of love Manmatha Also
elephants with pretty captivating trunks which were playing in the lotus pond
and were catching the lotus flowers were also made there. Like that the figure
of Goddess Lakshmi whose good event making hands were catching the lotus
flowers were also made. Like this the very pleasant plane was shining with light like the end of
winter, which had very pleasing perfume and
which was like a tree and also like a mountain with many beautiful
caves.
7.13-7.15
Then the
monkey became very thoughtful because he could not find Sita who was only
attracted by the good qualities of her husband, who was being worshipped by all
good people and who was the daughter of King Janaka in spite wandering and jumping about all over
the worshipful city which was maintained
by the prowess of the ten headed Rakshasa. 7.16
The mind of
that holy one who was very intelligent, who did only right actions and who was
having several confusing thoughts because he was not able to see the daughter of King
Janaka was filled with sorrow.
7. 17
Thus ends the
seventh chapter of Sundara Kanda which
is in the Ramayana which is
the first epic written by Valmiki.
8.Description of Pushpaka Vimana
(This short
chapter gives a vivid description of Pushpaka Vimana as seen and understood by
Hanuman)
The redoubtable hero Hanuman who was the
son of the wind God, saw the very great
Plane which was standing in the middle of that building, which had windows made
of gold and which was decorated by precious jewels.
8.1
That plane
whose glitter could not be measured and which could not adequately be described
by others was made by Viswakarma with an
intention that it should be the greatest
plane which could move anywhere in the
sky and was parked in the route of wind and was like a sign post of the path of
the Sun. 8.2
In that
there was nothing which was made without very hard work. There was no part of
it which was not made by very costly gems. The
assets of that were not even
within the ambit of Devas. There was nothing in
it, which was not very wonderful. 8.3
He saw the
great Pushpaka Vimana which was won by the valor gained by full meditation and prayer, which can go in
different styles just by mental wish, which was constructed with several types
of dwellings, which had equal but
differing sights in all its places, which can go at any speed by knowing the wish
of its master, which cannot be stopped by anybody, which can go in the speed of
wind, which had all possible riches of great
and holy people, which looked like the dwelling place of Devas and
equally famous people, which has been made in much greater manner than each
wish of its maker, which had peculiar pillars, which had spires and domes
similar to the peaks of mountains, which was as clear as the autumn moon, which was as pretty as the crowd of flowers
of the spring season, which was more pleasing to the eyes than the spring
season, which had faces shining by the ear studs worn, which was protected
by gluttonous ,fat sky riding, rakshasas and which was also protected by thousands of
swift Boothas (devils) who had round
sunken eyes, 8.4-8.8
Thus ends the eighth chapter of
Sundara Kanda which
is in the Ramayana which is
the first epic written by Valmik
9.Visiting
the private apartments
( In this chapter the search of
Hanuman of Sita in the harem of Ravana and the first impressions of him
about Ravana’s harem is described)
Hanuman the
son of Wind God saw in the middle of the great Pushpaka Vimana a very big and great building. 9.1
That was the
house of Ravana which was many yojanas ( two and a half miles) broad, one Yojana
long and with many decorated platforms 9.2
The killer
of the enemy Hanuman searched everywhere for the long eyed Sita who was the
king of Videha.
9.3
Inspecting
the houses of many great Rakshasas
Hanuman who was graced by the Goddess Lakshmi reached the house of the king of
Rakshasas.
9. 4
The very
extensive dwelling of Ravana was protected by many with top pointing arms,
surrounded by four tusked elephants as well as three tusked elephants, and also
full of Rakshasa ladies who were his wives and also some forcefully abducted Ladies from Royal
families.
9.5-9.5
That house
was like an ocean tumultuously moved by a tempest, which was full of crocodiles,
sharks, whales , fishes and snakes.
9.7
His house
was full of all riches, which were in the house of Khubera(God of riches)
Indra(King of devas) and Sun God.
9.8
The
treasures in the House of Rakshasa king Ravana was similar and much more than the riches of Indra, Khubera, Varuna(The rain god) ,
Yama(the god of death). 9.9
The Son of
God of Wind saw another mansion in the center of that house, which was
beautifully built and in which several artistic works were done. 9.10
That
Pushpaka Vimana which was prettily was made for Brahma by Viswakarma(the
architect of Devas) and increased
passions and also could be used to travel as one pleases. 9.11
Khubera
by doing very great penance got that
Vimana which was fully decorated by jewels and which was venerated by beings of
all the three worlds from Brahma. 9.12
The king of
Rakshasa won Khubera by his prowess and
got it from him. 9.13
Not only
that but that Vimana was decorated by
life like statues of deer, decorated all over by gold, had many very beautiful
pillars and appeared as if it was shining by its own light. 9.14
That
Vimana was decorated on all the four
sides by several towers, which appeared as if they were touching the sky like
the Meru and Mandhara mountains. 9.15
That plane
which was built by Viswakarma, had golden steps and was charming, great and had
the luster of the fire and the Sun.
9.16
It had
platforms made of precious gems like Sapphire and windows and shelves decorated
by gold and crystal.
9. 17
It appeared
pretty as it had floors decorated by
corals, very costly gems, incomparable pearls and also several pretty
drawings.
9.18
It was
similar to the Sun at dawn and had gold like saffron and sweet scented
sandal. 9.19
That monkey
chief climbed the sacred and well decorated
Pushpaka Vimana which had
different type of pretty halls.
9. 20
Then Hanuman
who stood there smelled the sweet perfume from the eatables and drinks spread
out there which looked like the air personified.(i.e. spread in all
places.) 9.21
It appeared
as if the scents called the very strong
Hanuman, “come here, come here”, like a relation calling another very close
relation.
9.22
He saw a
great stage in the middle , which ,being firmly there attracted the mind of
Ravana, which like a pretty lady was causing only good, which had steps made
out of pearls and diamonds, which shined because of its golden windows with
ivory inlaid here and there, which had floors made of crystal stones, which had very tall decorated pillars
built using gold, silver , pearls and corals, which was decorated by different
type of pillars, which had very tall and wing like sky touching perfect pillars
which were straight, which was as broad as the earth itself with its cities and
houses, which was covered by a very big carpet on which the different parts of
earth were drawn, Which was filled with sounds of songs by energetic birds,
Which had beautiful incense wafting about, which had special seats with the presence of the king of Rakshasas, which
was made dark by the incense and myrrh, which was very clear, which was white
like the swan, which was peculiar because of the flowers used for worship,
which gave happiness to the mind like the glittering Kamadhenu(sacred wish
granting cow of heaven), which was decorated so that it will get fame, which
looked like the mother of all treasures, which could destroy sorrow and which
was famous and divine.
9.23-9.30
That stage
which was protected by Ravana, like a mother ,satisfied the five sense organs
by its pretty form, taste, smell, touch and voice. 9.31
Hanuman
doubted and wondered whether it was heaven, the city of Indra himself, or the
city of Gandharwas.
9.32
He also saw
there very big golden lights which were still like those defeated gamblers by
the deceit of other gamblers.
9.33
He felt as
if the entire area was burning because of the strong light from those
lamps and also by the glitter the ornaments and power emanating from
Ravana. 9.34
There he saw
thousands of ladies lying on the jeweled carpet
dressed in cloths of varied colours, wearing several types of
ornaments and with varied
appearances. 9.35
Those ladies
after long love play and being drunk
were sleeping soundly because it was already midnight.
9.36
Those ladies
looked as if no sound coming from the shaking of their ornaments and were like
a lotus pond full of silent and bees.
9.37
He saw the
faces of those great ladies who were sleeping with open mouth, closed eyes and
with the smell of lotus flowers. 9. 38
Their faces
looked like the lotus flowers, which opened during daytime and had closed during night.
9.39
The honey
drunk bees without any doubt were desiring their faces thinking that it was
fully opened lotus flowers.
9.40
Because of
that and because of other valid reasons that great monkey chief thought their
faces equivalent to lotus flowers.
9.41
Because of
the glitter produced by the bevy of ladies that stage looked like the star
filled clear sky of the autumn.
9.42
That king of
Rakshasas surrounded by them looked like the moon surrounded by the stars.
9.43
Seeing them
Hanuman thought that they looked like a collection of stars fallen from the sky
after they have enjoyed the benefit of
all their good deeds. 9.44
In that
place the shine , colour and presence of the ladies glittered , very much
like the great shine of the big
stars.
9.45
They
were almost in deep trance by the deep sleep because of their
love play and intoxication by drink and their garlands and ornaments were very
much displaced. 9. 46
Some of them
were great ladies, in case of some , their Tilaka (sindhoora) was erased, in
case of some their anklets were broken and in case of some their chain of
pearls was lying by their side.
9.47
Like the
mare which carried lot of burden was rolling in the ground to recoup its
strength, some of them had broken their pearl chains , some had undressed and
in case of some, the anklets were completely broken.
9.48
Some
appeared with good ear studs but with broken garlands due to their exertions
like the flowering climber in a deep forest was
crushed by an elephant. 9.49
In other
cases the broken pearl necklaces were lying between the breasts of some and
appeared as if some swans were sleeping there.
9.50
In case of
others their diamonds looked like the king fisher birds and the broken golden
chains looked similar to the Chakravaka[8]
birds.
9.51
With hips
similar to the sandy shores some of them looked like the shores of river with
many swans, king fisher and Chakravaka birds. 9.52
With
glittering belled anklets, with lotus faces and with nail marks in many places
of their body, they looked like rivers with beauty as their shores. 9.53
In case of
some ladies the pressure marks made by ornaments on their busts and other soft
arts appeared as if they themselves were
ornaments. 9.54
The cloth
corners which were flying hither and thither by their breaths again and again
fell on the top of their breasts
9. 55
Those edges
of the very pretty and shining cloths of
various colours with various ornaments
when shaken over their foreheads appeared as if they were waving victory
flags. 9.56
In case
of some women with luster even the ear
studs were slightly moving hither and thither by their breath. 9.57
Their
naturally sweet scented breath along with the smell of wine
wafted towards Ravana ,with pleasure.
9.58
Not only
that some of Ravana’s wives mistook the other wives faces as that of Ravana’s
and kissed them several times. 9.59
Because
those ladies loved Ravana very much , they behaved with those other wives with
love even though they did not like them.
9.60
Some other
ladies were sleeping using their bangle
clad arms and their cloths as a pillow,
9.61
With one
lady attaching herself to the chest of another, one attaching to her hands, one
sleeping on her lap, and another on the same lady’s arms, and embracing each
other tightly with their thighs, hind
parts, hips touching each other , all of them slept together because of their love towards Ravana.
9.62-9.63
Because the
ladies with very ample hips were tightly embracing each other , they were happy
and with linked hands were sleeping soundly. 9.64
That bevy of
ladies linking themselves together appeared as if they were a garland which had attracted several big
tipsy bees. 9. 65
The harem of
Ravana looked like a flower garden in the month of May-June in which the
climbing tendrils with full of flowers are intertwined , in which the bees fly
from one place to another, in which the heads of the plants are attached here
and there and in which the flowers shake in the wind.
9.66-9.67
Though their ornaments , cloths and various
parts of the body were in places where they should be, they were not knowing
whose is where and which. 9.68
The well-lit
golden lamps appeared as if they were staring at the sleeping Ravana along with
his multi coloured collection of women.
9.69
Lasses from
the families of kings, sages, Pithru devas, Rakshasas and Gandharwas appeared as if they were there attracted by
their passion to Ravana. 9.70
Most of the
ladies who were there , were the ones who were abducted by the war thirsty
Ravana and some of those voluptuous ones came there because of their passion to
him. 9.71
Except the
noble daughter of Janaka , all of them
were there because of his great valor and none of them have been abducted and
brought , none who came against their wish and none were there who had accepted any one else. 9. 72
None of them
were born in a baser family or not pretty or not intelligent or not suitable to
be served upon or none without wealth or none who is not suitable to be loved
by their husbands.
9.73
That
good-natured Hanuman thought, ”If the wife of Sri Rama also attains this state
of Ravana’s wives towards Rama, my birth in this world would be a blessed
one.” 9.74
With sorrow
that Hanuman thought , “ Sita is the storehouse of all good qualities and this King Of Lanka has done acts which
should not be done towards her, alas!”..
9.75
Thus ends the
ninth chapter of Sundara Kanda which
is in the Ramayana which is
the first epic written by Valmiki.
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