The Rámáyan of Válmíki, translated into English verse
Varuṇa, but the commentator on the text (VI 60, 11) explains the allusion
to her thus:
“The daughter of Varuṇa was Punjikasthalí. On her account, a curse of
Brahmá, involving the penalty of death, [was pronounced] on the rape of
women.” MUIR, _Sanskrit Texts_, Part IV. Appendix.
Page 452.
_“__Shall no funereal honours grace_
_The parted lord of Raghu’s race?__”_
“Here are indicated those admirable rites and those funeral prayers which
Professor Müller has described in his excellent work, _Die
Todtenbestattung bei den Brahmanen_, Sítá laments that the body of Ráma
will not be honoured with those rites and prayers, nor will the Bráhman
priest while laying the ashes from the pile in the bosom of the earth,
pronounce over them those solemn and magnificent words: ‘Go unto the
earth, thy mother, the ample, wide, and blessed earth.… And do thou, O
Earth, open and receive him as a friend with sweet greeting: enfold him in
thy bosom as a mother wraps her child in her robes.’ ” GORRESIO.
Page 462.
_Each glorious sign_
_That stamps the future queen is mine_.
We read in Josephus that Caesar was so well versed in chiromancy that when
one day a _soi-disant_ son of Herod had audience of him, he at once
detected the impostor because his hand was destitute of all marks of
royalty.
Page 466.
_In battle’s wild Gandharva dance_.
“Here the commentator explains: ‘the battle resembled the dance of the
Gandharvas,’ in accordance with the notion of the Gandharvas entertained
in his day. They were regarded as celestial musicians enlivening with
their melodies Indra’s heaven and the banquets of the Gods. But the
Gandharvas before becoming celestial musicians in popular tradition, were
in the primitive and true signification of the name heroes, spirited and
ardent warriors, followers of Indra, and combined the heroical character
with their atmospherical deity. Under this aspect the dance of the
Gandharvas may be a very different thing from what the commentator means,
and may signify the horrid dance of war.” GORRESIO.
The Homeric expression is similar, “to dance a war-dance before Ares.”
Page 470.
_By Anaraṇya’s lips of old._
“The story of Anaraṇya is told in the Uttara Kaṇḍa of the Rámáyaṇa.…
Anaraṇya a descendant of Ixváku and King of Ayodhyá, when called upon to
fight with Rávaṇa or acknowledge himself conquered, prefers the former
alternative; but his army is overcome, and he himself is thrown from his
chariot.
When Rávaṇa triumphs over his prostrate foe, the latter says that he has
been vanquished not by him but by fate, and that Rávaṇa is only the
instrument of his overthrow; and he predicts that Rávaṇa shall one day be
slain by his descendant Ráma.” _Sanskrit Texts_, IV., Appendix.
Page 497.
“With regard to the magic image of Sítá made by Indrajit, we may observe
that this thoroughly oriental idea is also found in Greece in Homer’s
Iliad, where Apollo forms an image of Æneas to save that hero beloved by
the Gods: it occurs too in the Æneid of Virgil where Juno forms a
fictitious Æneas to save Turnus:
Tum dea nube cava tenuem sine viribus umbram
In faciem Æneæ (visu mirabile monstrum)
Dardaniis ornat telis; clipeumque jubasque
Divini assimulat capitis; dat inania verba;
Dat sine mente sonum, gressusque effingit euntis.
(_Æneidos_, lib. X.)” GORRESIO.
Page 489.
_"To Raghu’s son my chariot lend."_
“Analogous to this passage of the Rámáyana, where Indra sends to Ráma his
own chariot, his own charioteer, and his own arms, is the passage in the
Æneid where Venus descending from heaven brings celestial arms to her son
Æneas when he is about to enter the battle:
At Venus æthereos inter dea candida nimbos
Dona fereus aderat;…
…
Arma sub adversa posuit radiantia quercum.
Ille, deæ donis et tanto lætus honore,
Expleri nequit, atque oculus per singula volvit,
Miraturque, interque manus et brachia versat
Terribilem cristis galeam flammasque vomentem,
Fatiferumque ensem, loricam ex ære rigentem.
(_Æneidos_, lib. VIII)” GORRESIO.
Page 489.
_Agastya came and gently spake._
“The Muni or saint Agastya, author of several Vedic hymns, was celebrated
in Indo-Sanskrit tradition for having directed the first brahmanical
settlements in the southern regions of India; and the Mahábhárata gives
him the credit of having subjected those countries, expelled the
Rákshases. and given security to the solitary ascetics, who were settled
there. Hence Agastya was regarded in ancient legend as the conqueror and
ruler of the southern country. This tradition refers to the earliest
migrations made by the Sanskrit Indians towards the south of India. To
Agastya are attributed many marvellous mythic deeds which adumbrate and
veil ancient events; some of which are alluded to here and there in the
Rámáyana.” GORRESIO.
The following is the literal translation of the Canto, text and
commentary, from the Calcutta edition:
Having found Ráma weary with fighting and buried in deep thought, and
Rávaṇ standing before him ready to engage in battle, the holy Agastya, who
had come to see the battle, approached Ráma and spoke to him thus: “O
mighty Ráma, listen to the old mystery by which thou wilt conquer all thy
foes in the battle. Having daily repeated the Ádityahridaya (the delighter
of the mind of the Sun) the holy prayer which destroys all enemies (of him
who repeats it) gives victory, removes all sins, sorrows and distress,
increases life, and which is the blessing of all blessings, worship the
rising and splendid sun who is respected by both the Gods and demons, who
gives light to all bodies and who is the rich lord of all the worlds, (To
the question why this prayer claims so great reverence; the sage answers)
Since yonder(1073) sun is full of glory and all gods reside in him (he
being their material cause) and bestows being and the active principle on
all creatures by his rays; and since he protects all deities, demons and
men with his rays.
He is Brahmá,(1074) Vishṇu,(1075) Śiva,(1076) Skanda,(1077)
Prajápati,(1078) Mahendra,(1079) Dhanada,(1080) Kála,(1081) Yáma,(1082)
Soma,(1083) Apàm Pati _i.e._ The lord of waters, Pitris,(1084)
Vasus,(1085) Sádhyas,(1086) Aśvins,(1087) Maruts,(1088) Manu,(1089)
Váyu,(1090) Vahni,(1091) Prajá,(1092) Práṇa,(1093) Ritukartá,(1094)
Prabhákara,(1095) (Thou,(1096) art) Aditya,(1097) Savitá,(1098)
Súrya,(1099) Khaga,(1100) Púshan,(1101) Gabhastimán,(1102)
Śuvarṇasadriśa,(1103) Bhánu,(1104) Hiraṇyaretas,(1105) Divákara,(1106)
Haridaśva,(1107) Sahasrárchish,(1108) Saptasapti,(1109) Marichimán,(1110)
Timironmathana,(1111) Sambhu,(1112) Twashtá,(1113) Mártanda,(1114)
Anśumán,(1115) Hiranyagarbha,(1116) Siśira,(1117) Tapana,(1118)
Ahaskara,(1119) Ravi,(1120) Agnigarbha,(1121) Aditiputra,(1122)
Sankha,(1123) Siśiranáśana,(1124) Vyomanátha,(1125) Tamobhedí,(1126)
Rigyajussámapáraga,(1127) Ghanavríshti,(1128) Apám-Mitra,(1129)
Vindhyavíthíplavangama,(1130) Átapí,(1131) Mandalí,(1132) Mrityu (death),
Pingala,(1133) Sarvatápana,(1134) Kavi,(1135) Viśva,(1136)
Mahátejas,(1137) Rakta,(1138) Sarvabhavodbhava.(1139) The Lord of stars,
planets, and other luminous bodies, Viśvabhávana,(1140)
Tejasvinám-Tejasvi,(1141) Dwádaśátman:(1142) I salute thee. I salute thee
who art the eastern mountain. I salute thee who art the western mountain.
I salute thee who art the Lord of all the luminous bodies. I salute thee
who art the Lord of days.
I respectfully salute thee who art Jaya,(1143) Jayabhadra,(1144)
Haryaśa,(1145) O Thou who hast a thousand rays, I repeatedly salute thee.
I repeatedly and respectfully salute thee who art Áditya, I repeatedly
salute thee who art Ugra,(1146) Víra,(1147) and Sáranga.(1148) I salute
thee who openest the lotuses (or the lotus of the heart). I salute thee
who art furious. I salute thee who art the Lord of Brahmá, Śiva and
Vishṇu. I salute thee who art the sun, Ádityavarchas,(1149) splendid,
Sarvabhaksha,(1150)and Raudravapush.(1151)
I salute thee who destroyest darkness, cold and enemies: whose form is
boundless, who art the destroyer of the ungrateful; who art Deva;(1152)
who art the Lord of the luminous bodies, and who appearest like the heated
gold. I salute thee who art Hari,(1153) Viśvakarman,(1154) the destroyer
of darkness, and who art splendid and Lokasákshin.(1155) Yonder sun
destroys the whole of the material world and also creates it. Yonder sun
dries (all earthly things), destroys them and causes rain with his rays.
He wakes when our senses are asleep; and resides within all beings. Yonder
sun is Agnihotra(1156) and also the fruit obtained by the performer of
Agnihotra. He is identified with the gods, sacrifices, and the fruit of
the sacrifices. He is the Lord of all the duties known to the world, if
any man, O Rághava, in calamities, miseries, forests and dangers, prays to
yonder sun, he is never overwhelmed by distress.
Worship, with close attention Him the God of gods and the Lord of the
world; and recite these verses thrice, whereby thou wilt be victorious in
the battle. O brave one, thou wilt kill Rávaṇa this very instant.”
Thereupon Agastya having said this went away as he came. The glorious Ráma
having heard this became free from sorrow. Rághava whose senses were under
control, being pleased, committed the hymn to memory, recited it facing
the sun, and obtained great delight. The brave Ráma having sipped water
thrice and become pure took his bow, and seeing Rávaṇa, was delighted, and
meditated on the sun.
Page 492. Rávan’s Funeral.
“In the funeral ceremonies of India the fire was placed on three sides of
the pyre; the _Dakshiṇa_ on the south, the _Gárhapatya_ on the west, and
the _Áhavaníya_ on the east. The funeral rites are not described in detail
here, and it is therefore difficult to elucidate and explain them. The
poem assigns the funeral ceremonies of Aryan Brahmans to the Rákshases, a
race different from them in origin and religion, in the same way as Homer
sometimes introduces into Troy the rites of the Grecian cult.” GORRESIO.
Mr. Muir translates the description of the funeral from the Calcutta
edition, as follows: “They formed, with Vedic rites, a funeral pile of
faggots of sandal-wood, with _padmaka_ wood, _uśira_ grass, and sandal,
and covered with a quilt of deer’s hair. They then performed an unrivalled
obsequial ceremony for the Ráxasa prince, placing the sacrificial ground
to the S.E. and the fire in the proper situation. They cast the ladle
filled with curds and ghee on the shoulder(1157) of the deceased; he (?)
placed the car on the feet, and the mortar between the thighs. Having
deposited all the wooden vessels, the [upper] and lower fire-wood, and the
other pestle, in their proper places, they departed. The Ráxasas having
then slain a victim to their prince in the manner prescribed in the
Śástras, and enjoined by great rishis, cast [into the fire] the coverlet
of the king saturated with ghee. They then, Vibhíshaṇa included, with
afflicted hearts, adorned Rávaṇa with perfumes and garlands, and with
various vestments, and besprinkled him with fried grain. Vibhíshaṇa having
bathed, and having, with his clothes wet, scattered in proper form _tila_
seeds mixed with _darbha_ grass, and moistened with water, applied the
fire [to the pile].”
Page 496.
The following is a literal translation of Brahmá’s address to Ráma
according to the Calcutta edition, text and commentary:
“O Ráma, how dost thou, being the creator of all the world, best of all
those who have profound knowledge of the Upanishads and all-powerful as
thou art, suffer Sítá to fall in the fire? How dost thou not know thyself
as the best of the gods? Thou art one of the primeval Vasus,(1158) and