By Kambar (Kavichakravarthy Kamban)
Translated in English by P. R Ramachander
Kamba Ramayanam-Aranya Kandam 1 (Padalam 3)
3. Agathiya Padalam
The chapter on Agasthya
(Rama goes to the hermitage of Agasthya . Agasthya presents Rama with many divine weapons. Rama decides to move south from where the Rakshasas are coming. Sage Agasthya advices them to go and stay in the hermitage at Panchavati. The chapters in Valmiki Ramayana on Sita’s advice to Rama against indiscriminate attack of Rakshasas and his reply to her is not found here)
2631. Those sweet lads who had big bent bows ,After seeing the end of the sage Sharabanga,Became sad and with a sorrowing mind ,Along with Sita who was like a flowering branch,Went away from the hermitage of that saint with great sorrow.
2632. They with joy crossed several trees , Several places ,With big pretty stones , several rivers which had waves ,Several mountain with streams flowing from it ,Several gardens with lots of leaves and several sweet places.
2633. Those sages of the Dandaka forest like ,The Valkilyas who were created by Brahma ,Saints with shaved heads and saints who do not talk ,And other saints , saw Rama and mentally became happy.
2634. Those sages who were suffering because the asuras,Who had anger which was like fire , troubled them,And they did not have any method to control them,Became like trees in a burning forest which got,Water mixed with nectar made them all put new leaf.
2635, . Those sages who were even greatly scared to tell,Even the names of those Asuras who were growing ,More and more powerful and were very strong,Were like young calves in the burning forest ,Who saw their matchless mother cow returning.
2636. Those sages who were suffering due to enmity,With the asuras with very cruel acts , since ,They did not have capacity to fight with them ,Had become greatly worried and they ,Who were all drowning in the sea of asuras,Seeing Rama, felt that they have got a ship now and became happy.
2637. Those saints who saw Lord Rama properly ,Making the penance done by them with effort giving results difficult to get,And with their great wisdom helping them ,felt as if ,That they have got freedom from the big prison of sorrow due to their cruel birth .
2638. They who were doing great penance so that,They can give whatever is desired to those who need it ,Due to their strength of patience , had completely ,Uprooted the anger which comes up and up,And due to that they got in to trouble due to those asuras.
2639. When those sages departed and reached that valorous Rama,Who resembled the flakes of black cloud , with great ebbing love,They saluted Rama individually and blessed him while saluting him.
2640 . All those sages took Rama and others to a hermitage,Which was sweet to live and told them, “You please live ,Happily here and made all needed arrangements ,And went back to their residences and then ,Came again to tell Rama , the problems they were facing by those asuras.
2641. Rama saluted those sages who had come to see him,He praised them with love and asked them, “What orders are ,You giving me now.” And they said .”oh son of Dasaratha ,Who is an expert in protecting the worlds, be pleased to hear,The very cruel things which happened to us.”
2642. ”There exist the asuras who do not have something,Called mercy and who have gone far away from Dharma.Due to their troubling us , we have been forced to leave ,Good behavior and slip to bad behavior and ,Due to this we have moved far away from the path of penance.”
2643. ”Oh Rama who is an expert in archery, like the deer,Which live in the forest with very many tigers ,We are sorrowing in our mind , day and night And we have been forced to move away from good,Would we able to get freedom this sorrow at any time?”
2644. We are not following the ritual of penance properly ,We are not chanting the Vedas , we are not doing our duty,To those students who want to learn Vedas , we are not,Lighting the very old fire for Yagnas and we have ,Moved away from proper behavior and so ,We have slipped away being Brahmins.”
2645. ”As for Indra , he is obeying the orders of those asuras,Taking it on his mind and head and is behaving like their servant ,And so oh lord , So who are there , who can remove .Our sorrows except you and you have come here,Due to the power of the penance we did earlier.”
2646. “Oh son of the king who ruled and protected the entire earth by his power ,Oh merciful and valorous one , due to that sorrow that cannot be removed ,We are spending all our days in darkness and now you have come .Just like Sun and all of us are under your protection.”
2647. That Rama who was born in the clan of the sun said,“If those asuras do not promise not to trouble you and,Surrender to me , even if they run away to a world outside earth,They would die due to my arrow and so please remove,This unsuitable sorrow” and further told.
2648. ” It is due to the good deeds done by me , that I came to the forest,After the death of Dasaratha , after mother Kausalya becoming sad ,After my younger brother Bharata becoming sad and,After all the citizens of my city attaining matchless sorrow”
2649. ”If I am not able to destroy the power of those base Asuras,Who are troubling the sages who do not move away from Dharma,Being killed by those Asuras would be better for me ,And what type of birth do I have ,If I am not useful to this good work.”
2650. ”You who are cultured Brahmins who recite the Vedas ,Would see the many headless body of those asuras* dance ,And my tiredness in carrying this very heavy bow,As well as the completely filled up quiver would get reduced.” *One headless body would dance if 1000 soldiers are killed.
2651. “Those who protect the cows, Those who protect the Brahmans,Those who protect poor people and those who protect any one ,And who die when they are doing that are the only ones,Who are saluted by those Devas , who live in heaven.”
2652. ”Even if Lord Subrahamanya who killed Soorapadma ,Or Lord Vishnu who killed enemies with lustrous wheel,Or Lord Shiva who destroyed the three cities are guarding them,If they are moving in sinful path and not following Dharma ,I would uproot them all and so do not be scared” . he said.
2653. When they heard these words of protection from Rama,With ebbing joy , they who were having great love,Lost all their sorrow and they who were having a rotating staff,And who were experts in singing Vedas danced with joy and told.
2654. ”Oh Lord , If you become angry , even if thirty crore worlds,Which are like these worlds come and oppose you all together ,They are not equal to you and for that our wisdom is the witness.”
2655 “. Because it is like that for all the time that you spent in this forest,You will see to it that no sorrow whatsoever approaches us ,And please live here happily “ and when they said this,That great one who is the son of the great king Dasaratha saluted the feet of all those sages and continued to live there.”
2656. Those sons stayed there without any sorrow ,For another ten years with great satisfaction of the mind,And when those sages after great thought told them,“Please go and meet the great sage Agasthya , they,Departed from there With Sita having crescent like forehead. (Some versions call the above portions as Dandakaranya Padalam And the rest as Agathiya Padalam)
2657. Walking through pits in mountains and high bamboo forests,Through continuously going small paths slowly and slowly,They reached the garden without sorrow of the lustrous Sutheeshna.
2658. Those Rama and Lakshmana who had no pride in their mind ,Saluted the sun like lustrous soft feet of the sage Sutheeshna,And he said to them, “please stay here.” And obeying it ,All the three of them stayed in that garden full of flower scent.
2659. When they were saying there, that sage after performing ,All hospitalities to Lord Rama told him “oh great one ,What an amount of penance I have done , for making you,”Stay here and Rama with love replied to that great sage.
2660. ” Among the first sages who were born in the clan of Brahma ,Who else is there like you who have succeeded in penance .And who are there like me who lead a life of a householder,Who have got the blessings and grace from a sage like you?”
2661. To the words of Rama who was an expert in usage of simile,As reply that sage who had done penance from earlier days told,“Becoming my great guest who has not been wasted ,You have become one who can take the results of all my penance .”
2662. Rama then told Sutheeshna who was an expert in all Vedas ,“Oh leader, how easy is to get your mercy by simple penance.I have only to tell you that I have a shortcoming in my mind.That so far I have not been able to see the great sage Agasthya.”
2663. ”Oh great one, You have thought of only something good,For even earlier I wanted to tell you about the same thing .So please go to hermitage of Agasthya and meet him ,And after meeting him , there would be no more wants in your mind.”
2664. ”Also he would be wanting you to pay a visit ,And would become happy by your visit and so,You please go and reach Agasthya and oh great one,Meeting Agasthya is good for the devas and good for all others to.”
2665. ”He then told him clearly the way to go to the hermitage ,Of sage Agasthya and told him his limitless blessings ,Rama saluted the lotus like feet of that sage crowded by bees,And from that hermitage which had streams of honey flowing from hives,Rama and others went speedily towards Agasthya ’s hermitage .
2666. Sage Agasthya who had measured the world like Lord Vishnu ,Who measured the three worlds using language of tamil ,Understanding that Rama and others have reached that place ,Like the sea ebbing with joy attaining the fourteen worlds ,Received Rama who can grant any boon and he saluted him.
2667. ”The devas once upon a time , when the asuras hid themselves in the sea,Thinking that they will never get destroyed the devas called“Oh sage You did very great penance , Please shower your grace on us. “And when they begged you like this and knowing their sorrow ,You took all the waters of all the seas and just drank it ,And later when those devas requested you,To release the water again and you again filled up the sea.”
2668. That sage took all the pure water of the sea .And later released them all and due to that became a dwarf,And was called by others as dwarf sage and he with joy ,Ate all the body of a cheating Asura called Vatapi ,And destroyed the problem of all the people of the world.
2669. ”He was the one who saw to it that the sages of the world,Who practice Yoga are not disturbed and when asked by the devas ,As to the path to cross Vindhya mountains , stood on the top of that mountain,Which was surrounded by long series of clouds and was touching the sky.Like an elephant and pressed it so that the mountain went down to Patala.
2670. Once upon a time when the northern side of the world tilted down,As per the direction of Lord Shiva who wears many a serpents,Which told, “Oh Agasthya who in spite of growing old .Has not got tired , you go and stand in the southern side”Went to the south and reached the Malaya mountain,Which was touching the sky , and remained there,He being equal to lord Shiva, the world attained its balance.
2671. And he took the Tamil language from Lord Shiva Who holds the axe and who had on his forehead ,An eye that spits fire , learned it painstakingly,And split it in to that which can be learned with great difficulty ,And that which is used by highly placed people of society ,And gave it to the world in the form of Wisdom,Poems , usual usage and by the ritualistic roots
2672. That sage thinking that he would be able to see Rama,Who has been thought as that thing which is in sky , in land ,In several other worlds and in Vedas , with his own eyes ,That same day and became one with a very happy mind.
2673. , After grinding the other books which are equal to the Vedas which are chanted loud, in the mortar of best knowledge ,And searching it as the knowledge of that ultimate God,Whose greatness cannot be even understood by Lord Brahma,Would stand before him and talk with him and he became happy.
2674. Thinking that Rama who is the doctor who is going to uproot .The poison of Asuras who like bad Karma never go away,Has already come there , which would make ,The devas survive , the great sages survive and ensure,That all Brahmins would stand steadfast in Dharma ,And that Agasthya became bold to face everything.
2675. Those Asuras , whenever they need food ,Used to boil the trees which are also beings and eat them,And Agasthya who was anxious to see Rama ,Who he knew would use his thunder and great anger Put out the forest fire like Rakshasas,And has come like rain which is coming from clouds .
2676. Agasthya who brought the river in his water pot,For the good of eight directions , seven worlds ,And all living beings seeing that Rama was coming towards him,Shed tears of joy from his lustrous lotus like eyes.
2677. The Rama who came there fell at his feet and saluted him,And that Agasthya who got great fame by telling grammar of Tamil,With tears of joy flowing his eyes hugged with love Rama ,And told him sweet words like, “Your coming has been good.”
2678. With Brahmins reciting various type of Vedic chants,With saints of great penance with love surrounding ,And sprinkling water from their pretty water pot ,And with flowers being showered on them,Agasthya took Rama and others to his cool garden.
2679. Rama after entering with the pleased mind in to the garden,Participated in the feast given by the sage and then Agasthya ,Joyfully told “Oh lord of mercy , having come to my home ,Where great penance has been done , You have made my penance fruitful.”
2680. Rama saluted the sage who told like that and said,Your grace has not been received by the devas, by persons ,Who have done the penance that needs to be done by them ,And by great sages, but I have received your grace ,And so I have become one who has won over all the world,And I do not think that there is anything that I have to achieve.
2681. And then sage Agasthya who was similar to Lord Shiva ,Who wears the crescent on his high head , Started telling,“Oh Rama who has good characters which are liked by all ,Having heard that you have come to Dandakaranya ,I was happily thinking that one day you will visit here.”
2682. ”Oh Lord , please stay here for if you are here ,You would be able to complete the great penance that you wanted to do,And if the asuras with greater cruelty were to come here holding a sword,You would destroy them and make them fall and The sorrow of the sages like me who are living here would vanish.”
2683. ”Oh son of Dasaratha who ruled all over the earth,Now Vedas would get revived, the laws of Manu would be established,All type of Dharmas would get established, The devas ,Who were in bad times due to cruelty of Asuras would become great ,The Asuras would go down , The seven worlds would leave well,There is no doubt about these and so you live here” Agasthya told.
2684. Rama said .” Oh Sage who follows Vedas , I have decided to destroy, All the Asuras who do cruel acts and make all others happy ,And so I feel that my going to south wherefrom they come ,Would help me destroy them. What is your desire?”
2685. Then Agasthya told ,”you have told what is appropriate ,The bow that is here with me was once used by Lord Vishnu ,And is being worshipped by me and all the three worlds ,Take this bow for me as well as sharp arrows and matchless quiver.
2686. He also gave him a rare sword , which is greater than,All the three worlds in a plate of balance and also gave him,The matchless bow which was used by Lord Shiva,Who had the form of fire and bent the Meru in to a bow.
2687. “Oh son, there is a place called Panchavati ,With tall trees going straight with huge mountains ,With tall heaps of sand hills , With cool gardens,With large number of bunches of flowers ,And surrounded by rivers with jumping waves ,And on a small hill , and there is a residence there.”
2688. In Panchavati there are Banana trees giving sweet fruits,There are red paddy plants , with lustrous tips,There are flowers from which honey flows ,There are divine rivers there like river Cauvery,And there huge stroks to play with this gold like Sita.
2689. Agasthya said,”Now you go there and live there “And Rama of the colour of cloud saluted Agasthya and,Took leave from him followed by Sita who spoke ,Like Sugar syrup and his younger brother Lakshmana,And walked speedily with mind of Agasthya following him.
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About Kavichakravarthy Kamban
Historians place him in the 9th century CE, But surely Kamban belongs to the third great wave of Tamizh literature that started with the Sangam period (dated before the Common Era), followed by the widespread impact of Bhakti literature of the Alwars (vaishnavite saints) & Nayanamars (shaivaite saints). Kamban Authored Ramanaya in Tamil…Known as Kamba Ramayanam..
Kambar has been the milestone for the Tamil scholars that none had reached. He was also known as “Kamba Naatazhvar” at his time. Many Tamil authors from the modern world have written the books on the poet Kamban.
FAQs
Kambar or Kavichakravarthy Kamban (1180–1250) was a medieval Tamil poet and the author of the Ramavataram, popularly known as Kambaramayanam, the Tamil version of the epic Ramayana.
Valmiki Ramayana and Kamba Ramayanam are two versions of Ramayana written in the Sanskrit and Tamil languages respectively. … Kamba Ramayanam is originally called as Ramavataram. Although Valmiki Ramayana is the original version of the story of Rama, Kamba Ramayana is believed to be based on the work by Valmiki.
The Kamba Ramayanam, is a Tamil epic that was written by the Tamil poet Kambar during the 12th century. Based on Valmiki’s Ramayana (which is in Sanskrit), the story describes the life of King Rama of Ayodhya.
The book is divided into six chapters, called Kandam in Tamil. The Kandams are further divided into 123 sections called Padalam (படலம்) in Tamil. These 123 sections contain approximately 12,000 verses of the epic.