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Book V. Canto Viii. The Enchanted Car

Canto Viii.: The Enchanted Car.


There gleamed the car with wealth untold

Of precious gems and burnished gold;

Nor could the Wind-God's son withdraw

His rapt gaze from the sight he saw,

By Vis'vakarm's 1b self proclaimed

The noblest work his hand had framed.

Uplifted in the air it glowed

Bright as the sun's diurnal road.

The eye might scan the wondrous frame

And vainly seek one spot to blame,

So fine was every part and fair

With gems inlaid with lavish care.

No precious stones so rich adorn

The cars wherein the Gods are borne,

Prize of the all-resistless might

That sprang from pain and penance rite, 2b

Obedient to the master's will

It moved o'er wood and towering hill,

A glorious marvel well designed

By Vis'vakarm's artist mind,

Adorned with every fair device

That decks the cars of Paradise.

Swift moving as the master chose

It flew through air or sank or rose, 3b

And in its fleetness left behind

The fury of the rushing wind:

Meet mansion for the good and great,

The holy, wise, and fortunate.

Throughout the chariot's vast extent

Were chambers wide and excellent,

All pure and lovely to the eyes

As moonlight shed from cloudless skies.

Fierce goblins, rovers of the night

Who cleft the clouds with swiftest flight

In countless hosts that chariot drew,

With earrings clashing as they flew.

Footnotes

400:1
Pushpak from "pushpa" a flower. The car has been mentioned before in Ravan's expedition to carry off Sit, Book III.
Canto Xxxv.

400:2
Lakshmi is the wife of Vishnu and the Goddess of Beauty and Felicity. She rose, like Aphrodite, from the foam of the sea.
For an account of her birth aud beauty, see Book 1. Canto XLV.
acred 2 chapter vii| acred 2 chapter vii
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