Home > Library > New > Anonymous > The Ramayana > Book I. Canto Xxv. The Hermitage Of Love

Book I. Canto Xxv. The Hermitage Of Love

Canto Xxv.: The Hermitage Of Love.


Soon as appeared the morning light

Up rose the mighty anchorite,

And thus to youthful Rma said,

Who lay upon his leafy bed:

'High fate is hers who calls thee son:

Arise,'tis break of day;

Rise, Chief, and let those rites be done

Due at the morning's ray.' 1

At that great sage's high behest

Up sprang the princely pair,

To bathing rites themselves addressed,

And breathed the holiest prayer.

Their morning task completed, they

To Vis'vmitra came

That store of holy works, to pay

The worship saints may claim.

Then to the hallowed spot they went

Along fair Sarj's side

Where mix her waters confluent

With three-pathed Gang's tide. 1b

There was a sacred hermitage

Where saints devout of mind

Their lives through many a lengthened age

To penance had resigned.

That pure abode the princes eyed

With unrestrained delight,

And thus unto the saint they cried.

Rejoicing at the sight:

'Whose is that hermitage we see?

Who makes his dwelling there?

Full of desire to hear are we:

O Saint, the truth declare.'

The hermit smiling made reply

To the two boys' request:

'Hear, Rama, who in days gone by

This calm retreat possessed.

Kandarpa in apparent form,

Called Kma 2b by the wise,

Dared Um's 3b new-wed lord to storm

And make the God his prize.

'Gainst Sthnu's 4b self, on rites austere

And vows intent, 5b they say,

His bold rash hand be dared to rear,

Though Sthnu cried, Away!

But the God's eye with scornful glare

Fell terrible on him.

Dissolved the shape that was so fair

p. 38

And burnt up every limb.

Since the great God's terrific rage

Destroyed his form and frame,

Kma in each succeeding age

Has borne Ananga's 1 name.

So, where his lovely form decayed,

This land is Anga styled:

Sacred to him of old this shade,

And hermits undefiled.

Here Scripture-talking elders sway

Each sense with firm control,

And penance-rites have washed away

All sin from every soul.

One night, fair boy, we here will spend,

A pure stream on each hand,

And with to-morrow's light will bend

Our steps to yonder strand.

Here let us bathe, and free from stain

To that pure grove repair,

Sacred to Kma, and remain

One night in comfort there.'

With penance' far-discerning eye

The saintly men beheld

Their coming, and with transport high

Each holy bosom swelled.

To Kus'ik's son the gift they gave

That honoured guest should greet,

Water they brought his feet to lave,

And showed him honor meet.

Rma, and Lakshman next obtained

In due degree their share.

Then with sweet talk the guests remained,

And charmed each listener there.

The evening prayers were duly said

With voices calm and low:

Then on the ground each laid his head

And slept till morning's glow.

Footnotes

37:1
'At the rising of the sun as well as at noon certain observances, invocations, and prayers were prescribed which might under no circumstances be omitted. One of these observances was the recitation of the Svitri, a Vedic hymn to the Sun of wonderful beauty.' Gorbesio.

37:
1b "Tripathaga, Three-path-go," flowing in heaven, on earth, and under the earth.
See Canto Xlv

37:
2b Tennyson's ' Indian Cama,' the God of Love, known also by many other names.

37:
3b "Uma", or "Parvati," was daughter of Himlaya, Monarch of mountains, and wife of S'iva. See Klidsa's Kumra Sambhava, or "Birth of the War-God."

37:4b "Sthnu," The Unmoving one, a name of S'iva.

37:
5b The practice of austerities, voluntary tortures, and mortifications was anciently universal in India, and was held by the Indians to be of immense efficacy. Hence they mortified themselves to expiate sins, to acquire merits, and to obtain superhuman gifts and powers; the Gods themselves sometimes exercised themselves in such austerities, either to raise themselves to greater power and grandeur, or to counteract the austerities of man which threatened to prevail over them and to deprive them of heaven.... Such austerities were called in India "tapas" (burning ardour, fervent devotion) and he who practised them "tapasvin".'GORRESIO.
mahabharata sanskrit text| mahabharata sanskrit text
Home > Library > New > Anonymous > The Ramayana > Book I. Canto Xxv. The Hermitage Of Love