Book Vi. Canto Cxxx. The Consecration Canto Cxxx.: The Consecration. Then, reverent hand to hand applied,Thus Bharat to his brother cried: 'Thy realm, O King, is now restored, Uninjured to the rightful lord. This feeble arm with toil and pain, The weighty charge could scarce sustain.And the great burthen wellnigh broke The neck untrained to bear the yoke.The royal swan outspeeds the crow: The steed is swift, the mule is slow,Nor can my feeble feet be led O'er the rough ways where thine should tread.Now grant what all thy subjects ask: Begin, O King, thy royal task.Now let our longing eyes behold The glorious rite ordained of old,And on the new-found monarch's head Let consecrating drops be shed.' He ceased: victorious Rma bent His head in token of assent. He sat, and tonsors trimmed with careHis tangles of neglected hair Then, duly bathed, the hero shone With all his splendid raiment on.And Sit with the matrons' aid Her limbs in shining robes arrayed, Sumantra then, the charioteer, Drew, ordered by S'atrughnu near,And stayed within the hermit grove The chariot and the steeds he drove. Therein Sugrva's consorts, graced With gems, and Rma's queen were placed,All fain Ayodhy to behold: And swift away the chariot rolled. Like Indra Lord of Thousand Eyes, Drawn by fleet lions through the skies,Thus radiant in his glory showed King Rma as he homeward rode, In power and might unparalleled. The reins the hand of Bharat held.Above the peerless victor's head The snow-white shade S'atrughna spread,And Lakshman's ever-ready hand His forehead with a chourie fanned.Vibhishan close to Lakshman's side Sharing his task a chourie plied. Sugrva on S'atrunjay came,An elephant of hugest frame: Nine thousand others bore, behind,The chieftains of the Vnar kind All gay, in forms of human mould, With rich attire and gems and gold. p. 507Thus borne along in royal state King Rama reached Ayodhya's gateWith merry noise of shells and drums And joyful shouts, He comes, he comes, A Brahman host with solemn tread, And kine the long procession led,And happy maids in ordered bands Threw grain and gold with liberal hands.Neath gorgeous flags that waved in rows On towers and roofs and porticoes.Mid merry crowds who sang and cheered The palace of the king they neared. Then Raghu's son to Bharat, bestOf duty's slaves, these words addressed: 'Pass onward to the monarch's hall. The high-souled Vnars with thee call, And let the chieftains, as is meet, The widows of our father greet.And to the Vnar king assign Those chambers, best of all, which shine With lazulite and pearl inlaid, And pleasant grounds with flowers and shade,' He ceased: and Bharat bent his head;Sugriva by the hand he led And passed within the palace where Stood couches which S'atrughna's care, With robes and hangings richly dyed, And burning lamps, had seen supplied. Then Bharat spake: 'I pray thee, friend, Thy speedy messengers to send,Each sacred requisite to bring That we may consecrate our king.' Sugriva raised four urns of gold, The water for the rite to hold,And bade four swiftest Vnars flee And fill them from each distant sea.Then east and west and south and north The Vnar envoys hastened forth.Each in swift flight an ocean sought And back through air his treasure brought,And full five hundred floods beside Pure water for the king supplied. Then girt by many a Brhman sage, Vasishtha, chief for reverend age,High in a throne with jewels graced King Rma and his Sit placed. There by Jbli, far revered, Vijay and Kasyap's son appeared; By Gautam's side Ktvyan stood, And Vmadeva wise and good,Whose holy hands in order shed The pure sweet drops on Rma's head. Then priests and maids and warriors, all Approaching at Vasishtha's call, With sacred drops bedewed their king, The centre of a joyous ring, The guardians of the worlds, on high,And all the children of the sky From herbs wherewith their hands were filled Bare juices on his brow distilled.His brows were bound with glistering gold Which Manu's self had worn of old, Bright with the flash of many a gem. His sire's ancestral diadem. Satrughna lent his willing aidAnd o'er him held the regal shade: The monarchs whom his arm had saved The chouries round his forehead waved. A golden chain, that flashed and glowedWith gems the God of Wind bestowed: Mahendra gave a glorious string Of fairest pearls to deck the king, The skies with acclamation rang, The gay nymphs danced, the minstrels sang.On that blest day the joyful plain Was clothed anew with golden grain. The trees the witching influence knew, And bent with fruits of loveliest hue,And Rama's consecration lent New sweetness to each flowret's scent. The monarch, joy of Raghu's line, Gave largess to the Brhmans, kine And steeds unnumbered, wealth untold Of robes and pearls and gems and gold. A jewelled chain, whose lustre passed The glory of the sun, he cast About his friend Sugriva's neck; And, Angad Bli's son to deck,He gave a pair of armlets bright With diamond and lazulite.A string of pearls of matchless hue Which gleams like tender moonlight threw Adorned with gems of brightest sheen, He gave to grace his darling queen.The offering from his hand received A moment on her bosom heaved; Then from her neck the chain she drew, A glance on all the Vnars threw,And wistful eyes on Rma bent As still she held the ornament. Her wish he knew, and made replyTo that mute question of her eye: 'Yea. love; the chain on him bestow Whose wisdom truth and might we know, The firm ally, the faithful friend Through toil and peril to the end, Then on Hanmn's bosom hungThe chain which Sit's hand had flung: So may a cloud, when winds are still With moon-lit silver gird a hill. To every Vnar Rma gave Rich treasures from the mine and wave.And with their honours well content Homeward their steps the chieftains bent. Ten thousand years Ayodhy, blest With Rma's rule, had peace and rest. No widow mourned her murdered mate, No house was ever desolate. The happy land no murrain knew, The flocks and herds increased and grew. p. 508 The earth her kindly fruits supplied, No harvest failed, no children died.Unknown were want, disease, and crime: So calm, so happy was the time. 1Footnotes 508:1 Here follows in the original an enumeration of the chief blessings which will attend the man or woman who reads or hears read this tale of Rma. These blessings are briefly mentioned at the end of the first Canto of the first book, and it appears unnecessary to repeat them here in their amplified form. The Bengal recension (Gorresio's edition ) gives them more concisely as follows: 'This is the great first poem blessed and glorious, which gives long life to men and victory to kings, the poem which Vlmki made. He who listens to this wondrous tale of Rma unwearied in action shall be absolved from all his sins. By listening to the deeds of Rma he who wishes for sons shall obtain, his heart's desire, and to him who longs for riches shall riches be given. The virgin who asks for a husband shall obtain a husband suited to her mind, and shall meet again her dear kinsfolk who are far away. They who hear this poem which Vlmki made shall obtain all their desires and all their prayers shall be fulfilled.'
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