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Book Vi. Canto Xxviii. The Chieftains

Canto Xxviii.: The Chieftains.


There Sran ceased: then S'uka broke

The silence and to Rvan spoke:

'O Monarch, yonder chiefs survey:

Like elephants in size are they,

And tower like stately trees that grow

Where Gang's nursing waters flow;

Yea, tall as mountain pines that fling

Long shadows o'er the snow-crowned king.

They all in wild Kishkindh dwell

And serve their lord Sugrva well.

The Gods' and bright Gandharvas' seed,

They take each form that suits their need.

Now farther look, O Monarch, where

Those chieftains stand, a glorious pair,

Conspicuous for their godlike frames;

Dwivid and Mainda are their names.

Their lips the drink of heaven have known,

And Brahm claims them for his own.

That chieftain whom thine eyes behold

Refulgent like a hill of gold,

Before whose wrathful might the sea

Roused from his rest would turn and flee,

The peerless Vnar, he who came

To Lank for the Maithil dame,

The Wind-God's son Hammn; thou

Hast seen him once, behold him now.

Still nearer let thy glance be bent,

And mark that prince preminent

Mid chieftains for his strength and size

And splendour of his lotus eyes.

Far through the worlds his virtues shine,

The glory of Ikshvku's line.

The path of truth he never leaves,

And still through all to duty cleaves.

Deep in the Vedas, skilled to wield

The mystic shafts to him revealed:

Whose flaming darts to heaven ascend,

And through the earth a passage rend:

In might like him who rules the sky;

Like Yama, when his wrath grows high:

Whose queen, the darling of his soul.

Thy magic art deceived and stole:

There royal Rma stands and longs

For battle to avenge his wrongs.

Near on his right a prince, in hue

Like pure gold freshly burnished, view:

Broad is his chest, his eye is red,

His black hair curls about his head:

'Tis Lakshman, faithful friend, who shares

His brother's joys, his brother's cares.

By Rma's side he loves to stand

And serve him as his better hand,

For whose dear sake without a sigh

The warrior youth would gladly die

On Rma's left Vibhshan view,

With giants for his retinue:

King-making drops have dewed his head,

Appointed monarch in thy stead.

Behold that chieftain sternly still,

High towering like a rooted hill,

Supreme in power and pride of place,

The monarch of the Vnar race.

Raised high above his woodland kind,

In might and glory, frame and mind,

His head above his host he shows

Conspicuous as the Lord of Snows.

His home is far from hostile eyes

Where deep in woods Kishkindh lies.

A glistering chain which flowers bedeck

With burnished gold adorns his neck.

Queen Fortune, loved by Gods and kings,

To him her chosen favourite clings.

That chain he owes to Rma's grace,

And Tr and his kingly place.

In him the great Sugrva know,

Whom Rma rescued from his foe.' 1
in prasna| in prasna
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