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Book I. Canto Xlii. Sagar's Sacrifice

Canto Xlii.: Sagar'S Sacrifice.


Then to the prince his grandson, bright

With his own fame's unborrowed light,

King Sagar thus began to say,

Marvelling at his sons' delay:

'Thou art a warrior skilled and bold,

Match for the mighty men of old.

Now follow on thine uncles' course

And track the robber of the horse.

p. 53

To guard thee take thy sword and bow,

for huge and strong are beasts below.

There to the reverend reverence pay,

And kill the foes who check thy way;

Then turn successful home and see

My sacrifice complete through thee.'

Obedient to the high-souled lord

Grasped Ans'umn his bow and sword,

Aud hurried forth the way to trace

With youth and valour's eager pace.

On sped he by the path he found

Dug by his uncles underground,

The warder elephant he saw

Whose size and strength pass Nature's law,

Who bears the world's tremendous weight,

Whom God, fiend, giant venerate,

Bird, serpent, and each flitting shade.

To him the honour meet he paid

With circling steps and greeting due,

And further prayed him, if he knew,

To tell him of his uncles' weal,

And who had dared the horse to steal.

To him in war and council tried

The warder elephant replied:

'Thou, son of Asamanj, shalt lead

In triumph back the rescued steed.'

As to each warder beast he came

And questioned all, his words the same,

The honoured youth with gentle speech

Drew eloquent reply from each,

That fortune should his steps attend.

And with the horse he home should wend.

Cheered with the grateful answer, he

Passed on with step more light and free,

And reached with careless heart the place

Where lay in ashes Sagar's race.

Then sank the spirit of the chief

Beneath that shock of sudden grief,

And with a bitter cry of woe

He mourned his kinsmen fallen so.

He saw, weighed down by woe and care,

The victim charger roaming there.

Yet would the pious chieftain fain

Oblations offer to the slain:

But, needing water for the rite,

He looked and there was none in sight.

His quick eye searching all around

The uncle of his kinsmen found,

King Garud, best beyond compare

Of birds who wing the fields of air.

Then thus unto the weeping man

The son of Vinat 1 began:

Grieve not, O hero, for their fall

Who died a death approved of all.

Of mighty strength, they met their fate

By Kapil's hand whom none can mate.

Pour forth for them no earthly wave,

A holier flood their spirits crave.

If, daughter of the Lord of Snow,

Gang would turn her stream below,

Her waves that cleanse all mortal stain

Would wash their ashes pure again.

Yea, when her flood whom all revere

Rolls o'er the dust that moulders here,

The sixty thousand, freed from sin,

A home in Indra's heaven shall win.

Go, and with ceaseless labour try

To draw the Goddess from the sky.

Return, and with thee take the steed;

So shall thy grandsire's rite succeed.'

Prince Ans'umn the strong and brave

Followed the rede Suparna 1b gave.

The glorious hero took the horse,

And homeward quickly bent his course.

Straight to the anxious king he hied,

Whom lustral rites had purified,

The mournful story to unfold

And all the king of birds had told.

The tale of woe the monarch heard,

Nor longer was the rite deterred:

With care and just observance he

Accomplished all, as texts decree.

The rites performed, with brighter fame,

Mighty in counsel, home he came.

He longed to bring the river down,

But found no plan his wish to crown.

He pondered long with anxious thought

But saw no way to what he sought.

Thus thirty thousand years he spent,

And then to heaven the monarch went.

Footnotes

52:
1b 'The Devas and Asuras (Gods and Titans) fought in the east, the south, the west, and the north, and the Devas were defeated by the Asuras in all these directions.
They then fought in the north-eastern direction;
there the Devas did not sustain defeat. This direction is aparjit, i. e. unconquerable. Thence one should do work in this direction, and have it done there; for such a one '(alone) is able to clear off his debts.' HAUG'S "Aitareyaya Brhmanam",
Vol. II, p. 33.

The debts here spoken of are a man's religious obligations to the Gods, the Pitaras or Manes, and men.

52:
2b Vishnu.

52:
3b 'It appears to me that this mythical story has reference to the volcanic phenomena of nature. Kapil may very possibly be that hidden fiery force which suddenly unprisons itself and bursts forth in volcanic effects. Kapil is, moreover, one of the names of Agni the God of Fire.' Gorresio.

53:1 Garud was the son of Kas'yap and Vinat.

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