THE VALMIKI RAMAYANA
BALA KANDA
ek¢æO|S:
sgI: Canto 31
¢m¢Tlap#ÞTanm¯
Setting out for
Mithila
AT
ta| rjn£| tæO k]taTaI
ramlßmNaW .
Uxt¤m¤I¢dtaW
v£raW p#¶¾EnaÓtraÏmna
¡1¡
k]taTaI
|
having completed their task |
ramlßmNaW
|
Rama and Lakshmana |
m¤¢dtaW
|
in a cheerful frame of mind |
Having accomplished
the task taken in hand,
those valiant
ones, Rama
and Lakshmana, with a happy
frame of mind,
spent that
night there itself, with a
pleasant inner
feeling (1).
p#Bataya|
t¤ SvIyaI| k]tpaWvaI¢k¢@yaW
.
¢váa¢mæOm¦x£|àaÓyan¯
s¢htav¢BjÂmt¤: ¡2¡
p#Bataya|
|
in the wake of the dawn |
k]tpaWvaI¢þk¢@yaW
|
having performed the rituals in the forenoon |
When the night
wore off, in the ensuing
early morn, having
performed all
duties due to be done
in the early hours of
the ante-meridian,
both of them went to
where Viswamitra and
the other sages
were (2).
A¢Bvaï
m¤¢n½E¿| ÇvlÓt¢mv
pavkm¯ .
Uct¤mID¤raEdar|
vaÀy| mD¤rBa¢xNaW ¡3¡
m¤¢n½E¿|
|
to the foremost among sages |
mD¤raEdar|
|
sweet and determined |
mD¤rBa¢xNaW
|
of sweet speech |
Having offered
salutations to that best
among seers, who
was resplendent
like the blazing fire, (they),
who are used to speaking in
a pleasant manner, spoke
(the following)
words
which were
sweet and grand (3).
imaW
Þm m¤¢nSaÑ¥Il ¢kÄðraW
sm¤p¢ÞTtaW .
AaåOapy
yTE¾| vW Sasn| krvav
¢k| ¡4¡
m¤¢nSaÑ¥Il
|
O! Tiger among sages! |
¢kÄðraW
|
ever ready to obey orders |
`O! Tiger among
seers! We are here at
hand, your servants
in waiting.
May you order us as
you wish. What command
of yours may
we carry out? (4).
evm¤³aÞttÞta×ya|
svI ev mhxIy: .
¢váa¢mæO|
p¤rÞk]Ïy ram| vcnmb#¤vn¯
¡5¡
Being addressed
thus, all those sages, with
Viswamitra
in the lead,
then spoke thus to Rama
(5).
mW¢TlÞy
nr½E¿ jnkÞy B¢vÝy¢t
.
yåO:
prmD¢mI¿ÞtæO yaÞyamhE
vym¯ ¡6¡
mW¢TlÞy
|
of the king of Mithila |
B¢vÝy¢t
|
is to be performed |
prmD¢mI¿:
|
the highly righteous |
`O! Best among
men! There is going to be performed
a sacrifice
by the greatly
righteous king of Mithila,
to where we intend
to go (6).
Ïv|
cWv nrSaÑ¥Il shaÞma¢BgI¢mÝy¢s
.
Aët|
c Dn¥rÏn| tæO Ïv|
d#¾¤mhI¢s ¡7¡
nrSaѥIl
|
O! Tiger among men! |
Dn¥rÏn|
|
the gem among bows |
`O! Tiger among
men! May you too come
along with us.
May you also
see the wonderful bow,
the best among bows (7).
t¢ÑG
p¥vI| nr½E¿ däO|
sd¢s dWvtW: .
Ap#mEybl|
GaEr| mKE prmBaÞvrm¯ ¡8¡
p¤vI|
|
in the days of yore |
Ap#mEybl|
|
of inscrutable power |
prmBaÞvrm¯
|
extremely lustrous |
O! Best among
men! It is well-known that
it was presented
(to king Janaka)
at the sacrificial assembly,
in the days
of yore; it
is of inestimable prowess,
extremely
lustrous and
terrifying (8).
naÞy
dEva n gÓDvaI nas¤ra
n c raXsa: .
kt¤ImaraEpN|
S³a n kT·n man¤xa:
¡9¡
AaraEpN|
|
lifting and tying the bowstring |
To string that
bow, neither the gods, Gandharvas,
demons,
nor the extremely
strong humans are capable,
even with great
effort (9).
Dn¤xÞtÞy
v£yI| ¢h ¢jåOasÓtaE
mh£¢Xt: .
n
SEkraraEp¢yt¤| rajp¤æOa
mhabla: ¡10¡
¢jåOasÓt:
|
desirous of knowing |
(Though) Curious
to know about the greatness
of that bow, kings and princes
of great physical might
were not able even to
string that
bow (10).
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