By Kambar (Kavichakravarthy Kamban)
Translated in English by P. R Ramachander
Kamba Ramayanam-Aranya Kandam 3 (Padalam 7)
Aranya Kandam (contd)
7. Soorpanakai Choozhchi padalam
(The chapter of conspiracy of Soorpanakha
(Soorpanakha with wounds and blood flowing all over reach Lanka. The ladies of Lanka are sadto her like this. When asked about the reason for her wounds , She tells Ravana about Rama and his great beauty and strength. She then tells about how Rama killed Khara and his great army. When asked why they cut her nose and ears, she tells Ravana about the great beauty of Sita and how she wanted to bring her as a present to Ravana. Ravana falls in love with Sita. A great description of his love sickness is then given. After getting not satisfied by advice of ministers , Ravana goes to meet Mareecha. In Valmiki Ramayana , a spy called Akampana reaches lanka before Soorpanakha.He reports in detail about happenings, He suggests to kidnap Sita so that Rama would die automatically. He gives suggestion to Ravana to meet Mareecha but Mareecha who knew Rama sends Ravana back. Then Soorpanakha meets him and complains about Rama and tells about beauty of Sita. There is no description of his love sickness .)
3067. Soorpanakha forgot about the death of Great Rakshasas army ,Who tumultuously shouted and with mind being stolen by the high mountain like Shoulders of Rama who did war , the sorrow of which she could not tolerate ,She speedily entered the strong city of Lanka whose moat itself was the sea,.With the thought, “I would tell him about great beauty of Sita and at this time,We would describe Ravana who was sitting in the council hall.
3068. In this world which is temporary in nature , that which was difficult even to Lord Brahma ,Sitting on the lotus of the belly of Vishnu who had created moving and non moving beings to produce,Which was produced by the Deva architect as something difficult to comprehend,Matchless ,which was done like Dharma in such a way that it would not cause ,Any harm to ourselves and to the others , which could immediately create any thing one wants,Using all his knowledge of Architecture and which was the matchless diamond studded hall,And Ravana sat in it making that hall more pretty.(The last line is told only after 23 such big stanzas and I have ended every stanza with that so thatReaders would not get confused.)
3069. In the world of devas neither he who wears the tiger skin, nor he who wears ,Golden silk and nor he who stays on the lotus could cause any harm to him andIn this world from now on who has the strength to cause him any harm ?And he had a series of shining crowns which will not salute any lady with thin waist, stout breasts,Bamboo like shoulders and eyes with red lines even during their long standing love tiff.
3070. With his pretty shoulders touching the sky which hit with great strength,The very strong elephants which are in eight directions and broke their tusksAnd whose foreheads are attracting the bees, which were shining like ,The mountain of sun rise , which touches the sky , and Over that the globes that he wore in his ears was like the ,Twelve Solar systems which had shining rays of light which were going round,The great mountain Meru and were twenty in number and shined.
3071. With his huge mountain like shoulders with the great luster of gems ,Which spread their light all around , looking like the thousand hoods of the king of snakes,Adhi Sesha , With all the famous stars of the sky standing by his side ,And with all the planets put in the long prison in the ferocious Lanka ,Surrounded by water , The hall looked like a complete garland of Rathna gems.
3072. The very great crowns of the chiefs of Rakshasas and others Who wear golden hero anklets ,in which well chosen red lustrous Manikhyas are studded and who were having,
Very great strength which cannot be estimated ,Were getting thinner every time they salute the Feet of Ravana,But were getting more and more luster.
3073. The tributes and gifts brought by the chiefs Of all the places of the three worlds and their predecessorsGiven without rest collected like heaps ,And the scented flower showered on him By asuras and devas collected in to another heap.
3074. The Vidhyadhara kings who wore shining crowns ,Studded with gems , without knowing at what time and fromWhat direction Ravana would look at them ,were also saluting,With their hands held over their heads and ,Were standing in rows all around that council hall.
3075. The male lion like Sidhas considering that whatever ,Ravana talked to the servant maids was an order to them ,With bent heads , with folded hand in salutation ,And with a bent body were again crowding round him.
3076. The greatly scared Kinnaras , When Ravana ,Talks a good word to his ministers , thinking ,That Ravana had told them to punish him ,Get scared and asked him humbly , “What is your order sir,,”
3077. The kings of serpents around him as soon they see Ravana,Behaved as if they have seen Yama , the punishing lord of The South,Holding a big iron rod personally and like the people ,Living in hell became depressed and started shivering.
3078. After winning over the elephants of the eight directions ,After uprooting the Meru mountain and getting Lord Shiva a bad name ,After waging a great war against Indra and made the heavens shiver ,Ravana made Dumburu sing along with music of his great fame.
3079. The Sage Narada using faultless tunes accompanied ,By the sound created by the strumming the strings of Veena,Sang the sweet Vedas in the heavens following ,The great discipline of music without Mistake and Ravana was hearing it.
3080. Lord Varuna , the lord of the sea which had sharks, Carried in the water pump called the clouds and the pure water mixed withThe honey showered by flowers given by the wish giving tree of devas , And the flowers of the great tree of Vidhyadaras and sprayed them,In small drops on the ladies , who were similar to deer and Peacock , with great fear.
3081. The wind god cleaned each and every place by collecting,The honey and pollen fallen out from perfumed flowers as well as,The gems and pearls that fell on the ground by rubbing of ,The crowns of the very many kings there and dumped it in bins .
3082. ,The Deva Guru Jupiter and the Asura Guru venus holding ,A lustrous golden cane and wearing a long black dress covering,All the hairs of the body according the order , pointed out ,Their assigned seat to The king Indra and other devas and made them sit.
3083. Lord Kala (god of time) after forsaking his usual weapons and tying his mouth,With the cloth he wears very tightly , having red palms used to stand up,As and when the big drums are played and announced the account of time spent already.
3084. The Shining God of fire made good perfumed ghee to be poured in fire And kept best camphor on the wick made of soft cotton and lit lamps that never gets put out ,And which looked like the fully opened red lotus flowers,
3085. The Karpaga trees which give new flowers , the deva gems ,Which emit faultless light , the cows that give milk and the treasures,Of the devas waiting for the proper time to please Ravana , who was surprised,Came is a queue to give their gifts to him.
3086. The various ornaments starting from the ear globes,Due to throwing out light on their surroundings , made one feel,Whether darkness will ever occur again as ,No darkness was seen in all the eight directions around the king.
3087. The divine ladies like Ganga with their very stout breasts,Being carried by their waists , which were bent slightly due to the heavy weight,Holding in their hands red flowers as well auspicious rice,Went on telling auspicious greetings to Ravana.
3088. The ladies born from the thigh of the saint Narayana like Urvasi,Who looked like the pictures brought alive , performed pretty dances ,Like the joyful peacocks which have seen the water rich clouds ,Keeping to the beats of several musical instruments tied by leather.
3089. That Ravana who due to his great strength kept the three worlds under him,Which were kept under him due to his performing matchless penance ,Was sitting in between the sight stream of ladies ,Who had arched eye brows and very broad eyes.
3090-3091. At the time the sister of Ravana , who was holding her red hands,Above her head , who had breasts made red by the flowing blood from there ,Who had lost her nose, who had lost her ears wearing ear globes,Who had open mouth wailing like the thunder of the clouds,Who was shouting loudly her problems with her bad smelling mouth ,Whose mind was burning after shouting like the sound raised by seven seas,And who had a red hair similar to the western side when the sun setsArrived at the northern gate of that great city .
3092. Seeing her arriving like this , the Rakshasa ladies of noble families,Of the old city of Lanka stood before her , beat their bellies with hands and cried loudly,And said, “the younger sister of the king of the three worlds ,Has come alone loosing her nose. Can any of you tolerate it.”
3093. The Rakshasas then saw her suddenly and not knowing what to tell,Wailed like the sound of thunder, beating one palm with another palm,And with fire sparks coming out of their eyes , stood there biting their lips.
3094. The Rakshasas then started doubting whether the evil ,Would settle on Indra or on the great Brahmin who created the world ,On Lord Vishnu with the wheel or on Lord Shiva wearing crescent on his head ,And by thinking various such thinks made their mind hot.
3095. ”They thought “who are the well noted enemies of Ravana,And that this job cannot be done by any one living in any of the planets ,Which are in these three worlds , and who are there outside it ,And would it be possible for them to do like this,”
3096. Some others said “after she identifies herself as “Ravana ’s sister”,Anybody would have saluted her addressing her as mother and how can,Anybody think of doing harm to her after they know about it?So possibly she herself must have cut off her organs this way.”
3097. Indra not able to do war with Ravana had become his slave ,Lord Vishnu who had the weapon of wheels with spokes ,Losing his strength is living in side the sea, Lord Shiva who holds,Fire in his hand has started living on top of Kailasa mountain,And when things are like this, who else could have done it”, they thought.
3098. Some other Rakshasas thought ‘How can this be done to the famous ladies,Belonging to great families? But she does not have habits of ladies born,Of good families and she must gone against the tenets of virtue?And possibly Khara getting angry might have done this to her beauty”
3099. ”Did any of the Devas with shifting mind who are all greatly tired ,Dared to do this job of utter madness ?If they had done so,They might have lost hope of further living and wanted ,That all the three worlds be destroyed along with them.”
3100. Some thought “Suppose there is one more deluge,Would there be heroes wearing anklets and shining sword,Who dare to do it .Possibly this was done due to anger by sages,Who are doing faultless great penance in the fearsome forests.”
3101. In that great city of Lanka which had wealthy beaches ,The Rakshasas damsels with black eyes , Rubbing their soft hands,Wearing several bangles with each other stared at Soorpanakha,And with their nature being damaged like the curdled milk,They started running speedily one behind the other .
3102. To that city of lanka ,the sweet sound emanating from drums ,And Veena and from the sweet Yaazh , as well the music,Of Flute, which makes everyone her slave and theAuspicious conch sound was not heard ,At that time but a sound of weeping which was never ,Heard there , filled up all its nooks an evil omen.
3103. Those Rakshasas ladies who had huge eyes full of tears ,Which even defeated the oceans leaving Drinking goblets,The bees which hum around those cups as well as ,The mind which was engaged in alcoholic drinks ,Ran away from there with their shaking thin waists ,And they also hugged each other while they were running away.
3104. Some other ladies Wanting to punish their husbands,Who were users of sword due to love tiff, with burning mind ,With red eyes due to anger , which further reddened ,Due to crying on seeing Soorpanakha ,Fell on the feet of the younger sister of the king.
3105. Some of them who were playing in the swings tied,Between the green Betel nut trees which had golden fruits ,BY gemmed strings and were busy dancing and singing ,Became sad on seeing Soorpanakha and ,Gathered in the streets , giving pain to their thin waists.
3106. Some other ladies took away their tender hands wearing bangles ,From the pillar and mountain like shoulders of their husbands ,And started shedding pearl like tears from both their eyes ,On their lotus flower like face and started sobbing in their minds.
3107. Thinking about how Ravana , the holder the pretty spear,Applied with ghee and one who does not have any one opposing him,Will react when he comes to know of this very cruel act ,Some ladies who were shedding tears like rain from ,Their eyes applied with Kajal and who had waists Which appeared to be lies ,and fell on the floor crying.
3108. Some young ladies , forgetting the slight pleasure created,By dreams , with their cloud like hair getting displaced ,With disheveled cloths , with their broad breasts shaking ,Started walking and fainting due to sorrow.
3109. ”The fate of the younger sister of lord Ravana who shook ,The mount Kailsa using his twenty hands have become like this?”Saying this some Rakshasas maids born in very noble families ,Untied their hair and beat their two breasts with their red hands ,And went and fell at the feet of Soorpanakha.
3110. And they stood there with both their eyes which never have been filled with tears ,Thinking “Due to our victorious king holding spear in his right hand is there,In this city of Lanka at no time even animals had to bear such cruelty.Has our greatness gone away from our hands?” they became sad.
3111. When the citizens of that Lanka attained this great sorrow,With all those sitting and standing there searching for ways to run away,Like a cloud searching for a mountain Soorpanakha fell down and rolled,At the black feet of Ravana wearing heroic anklets.
3112. All the three worlds were covered with darkness , Adhisesha ,Who carries the earth getting scared slightly bent his one thousand heads ,Groups of mountains got displaced , even Sun God felt something ,Bad will come to him , the elephants of directions ran away and ,Even the devas got very scared and ran away from there.
3113. With his huge shoulders wearing shining armlets raising up,With his eyes burning like fire , with his teeth seen outside as shining,And with eyebrows arching up and going up on his foreheads ,The entire world got scared and Devas forgot their normal duties.
3114. All devas along with the lord of south , The God of death,Decided “Our end has come today “ and heaven and earth shivering ,With fear got agitated, took deep breath , and not able to stand ,Anywhere constantly and not able to talk remained silent.
3115. With lips wavering due to anger , with smoke of anger ,Coming out of all his ten mouths , with his moustaches,Shivering due to great anger getting burnt and giving bad smell,Due to his hot breath and with his sword like sparkling white teeth shine ,Like lightning , in a voice like thunder of the clouds he asked , “who did it.?”
3116. She said , “ Two princes who have come to forest to do the job,Of protecting the world , who are similar to love god with flag of Makara fish,And who have no comparison in earth or heaven in beauty and valour ,Took out their swords and cut them off.”
3117. As soon as she told that it was done by men , Ravana felt like laughing,Shaking all eight directions , from his eyes sparks of fire came out ,“The courageous act of those men is silly , Is what you told me , true?.Without lying tell me and tell me the truth . he said.”
3118. “Them by the beauty of their gem like body are like God of love ,If you consider the strength of their shoulders , they would beat ,The beauty of the Meru mountain of the north. , but what is the point ,In discussing in detail about their great capabilities and by their ,Prowess in the bow , within the time of battling of an eye ,They are capable of destroying all the strong people of the world.”
3119. ”Further , they have the habit of saluting the chiefs of saints,They have faces like the shining full moon that is in the sky .They have eyes like the lotus flower with stalk growing in the ,Waters that are moved by the waves and also their legs and arms,Are as soft as the flower. They are the possessors of unlimited penanceAnd really who can be quoted to be like them?”
3120. They wear cloths of bark ,wear long heroic anklets ,Wear the three threaded scared thread , are experts in archery ,Their toungues have learnt the Vedas, their beauty is particularly great,They would not fear for you and may not even bother about you like a dust,And they have quivers that cannot be destroyed like ,A great literary work that is composed by words.
3121. ”Oh Lord are there two gods of love who live on this earth ?Are there any other great expert in archery than both of them?Are there any one like them? And to my mind ,Each of them is equal the holy trinity of Gods.”
3122. When the sages with great Dharma went and told them , “our minds,Which is under control gets scared on seeing those Rakshasas?”,To those men they said , “we would win over all the worlds and we would,Completely uproot the Rakshasas along with their clans” and took an oath.
3123. “ They are the sons of Dasaratha who was ruling over the entire world ,Who have so many greatnesses , whose praise can never be completed ,And there are ones whose greatness cannot be found fault ,And due to order of Dasaratha , they are living in a forest which is difficult to enter ,And their names are respectively Rama and Lakshmana” she said.
3124. Ravana said, “ The ones who cut off the pretty nose of my nectar like sister ,Using a sharp knife are men and even after me knowing that my sister has been attacked ,They are still alive and I who am Ravana with a sword which shines like new ,Am still awake and shamelessly walking carrying my soul in my body.”
3125. ”After gaining victory after victory , by my efficiency I established,My rule in Lanka and was all this the result that I got by doing all that?Even if my rule is destroyed and even if the heads of all ,Heroic chiefs are all cut off , this insult to me is not proper?”
3126. ”This insult was created and thrown at me and those at me by men,And they are still alive and their sweet soul has not been still destroyed ,And my sword is simply with me without any work and the life span,Given to me by Lord Shiva who swallowed the poison from sea is still there,And my shoulders are simply resting, because , I was keeping quiet. Is it not?”
3127. ”Oh my mind , Why are you feeling shy that the bad name has pierced,My body and has gone further ? Why are you jittery ?There is need for you,To be sorry to carry this dishonor any further,For to carry it my ten heads and very many shoulders are there. Is it not?”
3128. Laughing after tell this , Ravana stared like burning fire asked“Did not Khara and others who were guarding the mountain,Filled forest kill with their sword those men who did not have any help?”
3129. As soon as Ravana told this , Soorpanakha who was shedding tears ,Which was like a stream from her eyes, who was hitting her belly,Fell on the floor , cried and rolled there and said, “ Oh Lord,All our relations were destroyed speedily “ and keeping her hand on her head ,Started telling , how all of them were destroyed.
3130. “When Khara and other youthful heroes asked me,“Tell us what happened?” They all went there with great sound,Along the army which was continuous and that Rama ,Who had red eyes like lotus flowers and who was a famous hero,With his very famous bow killed and sent them to heaven within three Nazhigai(More than an hour)”
3131. “In the war Rama fighting alone killed along with ,The Garlanded army killed all the three brothers “ and even,Before these words fell on the ears of Ravana, In all his eyes ,Tears like a falling rain and the fire that was lightning of clouds shined.
3132. , At that time due to his great anger the sorrow went away and ,Like the ghee fallen on fire increasing the fire , his anger increased,And he asked “what was the reason for them with great strength ,To cut off your noses and ears like this? Did you do any ,Bad act that you did towards them ?’
3133. Soorpanakha for that question replied , “The fault of mine happened ,Because of A lady who came along with Rama , who looked like Goddess Lakshmi ,Who has left her seat of lotus flower and had the beauty that not even,Great artists can portray in their picture came andHer waist was as thin as a streak of lightning , had thin shoulders like bamboos ,And had a body which appeared to have been made of pure Gold .”
3134. Interested after hearing that he asked “Who is that lady?”And she replied “Oh lord , Her hips are chariots with wheels .Her breasts are like the golden case for putting Kunkilyam,And the earth has done great luck for her foot to fall on her.Her name is Sita “ and started telling more about her beauty.
3135. “She has sweet words which attract you like honey, she has a hair , Decorated with sweet flowers which are the songs in pretty tune Kamaram,She is more pretty than deva maidens and even Goddess Lakshmi sitting on lotus ,Is not suitable even to become her friend and ,I think my trying to describe her beauty is sheer ignorance.”
3136. “The cloud like untied hair of hers who possibly selects her pretty words from nectar,Is long and is like rain bearing cloud , her feet are both like red cotton ,Fingers are pretty like pieces of coral and though her face is like lotus,Her eyes in that face are very much bigger than the ocean.”
3137. ”The God of love was burnt by the eyes of Lord Shiva” is a word of lie,And the truth is that he saw this lady with perfumed hair , fell in love with her,And not able to carry her away , was attacked by the disease of passion,Which cannot be told to others and due to excess passion ,His pretty form slowly eroded away and then he lost it.”
3138. ”She has pretty eyes which in sharpness have won over the sword and spear,Manufactured in the fire of the blacksmith and I do not know , which world , she is from?,She has such a pretty form that it is is impossible for any one to draw it in pictures,And if you want to know whether any other ones are having her beauty , search for it,In all your enemy ‘s worlds , in the world of serpents which carry their hood on their head ,And in the entire earth which is surrounded by the sea on all sides?”
3139. “Shall I tell only about the beauty of her shoulders?Or Should I tell about the beauty of Valai fish like eyes,Which travel around her greatly lustrous face?Or Shall I only describe the prettiness of her other organs ?I am perplexed as I do not have strength to describe,The beauty of each and every organ of hers separately ,And I do not have any thing more to tell to you,Because you are going to see her tomorrow, is it not?”
3140. “ If we tell that her forehead is similar to a bow,Or tell that her eyes are like spears or her teeth are like pearls,Or tell that her lips are like corals , that descriptive word is suitable,But since the meaning does not match , are there any better ,Simile word that we can use “ If we tell “Paddy is like grass”,Can we say that we have the proper thing to compare .”
3141.”Oh Lord, Indra got Sasi as his wife ,The father of six faced one got Uma as his wife, Lord Vishnu with lotus like eyes got the red coloured Goddess Lakshmi as his wife , And you also get Sita as wife and if we compare who is the best among you,All the best has only come only to you as others did not get this great blessing.
3142. Shiva kept his wife on the left side and another God kept,The golden girl who lives on lotus on the toungue of Lord Brahma,Oh Hero who has shoulders which are as high as the sky , if you get,Sita whose thin waist would win over lightning coming from rainy clouds ,AS she is better than other divine ladies , Where do you propose to keep her?
3143.”Oh Lord , After you get Sita who talks as sweet as the lisp of babies,You would not do any more mistakes, Oh Charitable one for due to,Your great love for her , you would give all your robbed wealth only for her,And I would be considered good by you , but am I not doing harm,To all those in your palace , who talk like parrots?’
3144. That Sita who has pretty hips like the chariot is not born in the womb,of any ladyWho ties her breasts with cloth in this world and in heaven,You know that the milk ocean with plenty of conches when churned,By the proud devas and asuras , gave the lady Lakshmi who sits on a lotus ,And the earth which wanted to beat this gift , has given Sita and has become great.
3145. You please get her and make her your wife That Sita , who is greatly praised,By the people of the world which has the moving ocean with fishes as waist belt,Whose waving hair with its perfume attracts the bees , who has a very thin waist,And who is like a deer and then lead a happy life and making the making the world ,Surprised at your skill with sword , get me Rama , so that I can be happy with him.
3146. ”Oh my father like brother , fate gives you everything at proper time ,And due to that , even if someone has done great penance , the good that has to come ,Would not reach him unless the proper time has arrived and so I feel,That you who has ten faces , twenty hands , twenty eyes , twenty shoulders ,Valorous chest and body would attain the greatness of your boons,That you have earlier got doing great penance only from now onwards.”
3147. ”When I was trying to get hold of Sita with such great beauty ,And bring her to you , The younger brother of that Rama entered ,In between and using his lustrous sword , cut off my nose ,And immediately I felt my life has come to an end but I decided ,To take away my life myself , after telling everything to you.”
3148. Like the greatness which does not stay in place where sin stays,Anger , valour , the mental pain due to loosing of self respect ,And all such good cultures , due to the passion instilled in his mind,Cut off connections with him and like saying one lamp attained another ,The sickness of passion and worries caused it got merged with soul of Ravana.
3149. That one who has not forgotten about the damsel about whom he heard,Due to arrow of love God which won over even Lord Shiva,Forgot about Khara , forgot about the strength of person who cut off,The nose off his younger sister , forgot about bad name he received,And also forgot the power of great boons he got earlier.
3150. Because the name “ Sita with thin waist” and his mind, have crossed,The state of being two and have become one, he did not have another mind,To remove “the name of Sita” from his mind and think about anything else.So there was no method for forgetting about Sita . Though one is learned ,If he does not have the great wisdom of good and bad , one cannot cross Passion.
3151. That Lord of city of Lanka , which had very high fortified walls ,Even before stealing her by deceit who was looking like a peacockPlaced her in the prison of his heart and because of that,The mind of Ravana who was armed with spear started melting ,Due to it getting gradually hot , like the butter kept in the sun.
3152. Due to the power of fate , and due to the expected gains because of it,Due to the conditions which are nearing for the destruction of city of Lanka,The cruel disease of passion entered stealthily through his sense organs ,Like a very ignorant uneducated man doing evil without knowledge of any one.
3153. Due to the fact that Sita who was as pretty as gold has entered in his mind ,Has Ravana got dilapidated? Due to the state in which he forgot himself .The God of love sprayed arrows , gave him sorrow and he himself became strong ,Is it not true that destruction of a valour of person is attached to passion.”
3154. Ravana got up from his seat and then beings of seven worlds ,Greeted him, , the sound of conches were heard from everywhere ,There was rain of flowers and all outsiders went away from there,And with a very depressed mind Ravana entered his golden palace.
3155. Ravana who entered the palace avoided the crowd of his wives ,And went and laid down on a big high bed over which flowers were spread,And as soon he did that when , the breasts and eyes of the deer like Sita,Who had hair with perfume of musk , brought many thoughts in his mind ,And such thoughts kept on slowly increasing the head of his emotions.
3156. That passion which could not be set aside ,increased several hundred,Crores of times and those flowers that were spread on his bed which ,Were sprayed with cold water and fanned by scented air got blackened ,And his shoulders similar to the eight elephant of directions ,Got thinned, his mind melted and his soul appeared baked.
3157. Then , when the maid servants carrying flowers which had pollens ,Cool sandal paste and pretty tender new grown leaves approached Ravana,His body got scalded as if is was anointed with medicine of burning fire ,And like the bellow of blacksmith pumping hot air , he breathed and fainted.
3158. That pitiable one who was not able to stabilize his mind , who could not realize ,The sin he was committing , was not able not to think about her even for a small time , And due to the desire to see the body of her who had eyes ,Similar to tender mango , neithal flower , spear as well as blue lotus flower ,Suffered great sorrow and became one who is very sad.
3159. Ravana who had fully achieved victory over the very strong elephants,Which lift the earth in all eight directions and made their trunk and tusk break,Being attacked by arrows of love God like a bee that bores in to a tree continuously,On his chest , became very sad , greatly tiered and well famished.
3160. That Ravana who felt that,” A lady who is like flower branch with kondrai like hair,Had come and was living in his mind that he has seen her “ became greatly depressed ,AS well as sorrowful but when the southern breeze with perfume of jasmine ,Which was like the arrow sent by love god wearing sweet smelling flower garland ,Came and hit his body he became greatly furious on that breeze.
3161. Then that Ravana with the painful mind, got up to go from there ,And without any firm thought as to what he would like to do ,Accompanied by golden coloured servant maids who could talk ,Sweeter than the music of Palai Yaazh holding innumerable row of lamps ,Which merits great appreciation , entered in to a garden.
3162. That garden had jack trees like Manikhya , Banana trees like Emerald,Mango trees like diamonds , Vengai trees like pure Gold ,Kongu trees like Padmaraga stones betel nut trees like blue stones ,Which give light to a great distance , Aacha trees like Kuruvinda gems,Coconut trees like silver , The Pongamia trees like crystal ,And padiri trees which were like coral gems.
3163. Those gem like trees which were pretty and touched the sky,Were such that there was difference visible between their flowers and stars,And in the middle of that honey dripping garden, on a golden Mantap,There was a white bed which was spread and Ravana reached it and became sad.
3164. The swans after drinking the honey dripping out of fruits and flowers,And which have become drunk , parrots which talk like sweet lisping talk of ladies,Koels , Bees and many other birds which can only raise sweet sound,Thinking that the king of Lanka would get angry at them ,Did not make any sound and appeared as if they were dumb.
3165. Due to that season , the new mist which has come along with breeze from north ,Went and entered the wounds caused by arrows of love God and vanishes,And this made Ravana ask , “What is the season of friendliness now?”,And as soon as he asked the mist of that end of the season vanished,And the new heat of the spring started immediately.
3166. When the thin mist that cools down even branches of huge trees in the garden , Forest fire and mountains was creating irritation to the body of Ravana,What can we tell about the heat of the early summer on him?Is there any medicine that can cure those who have drunk the poison of passion?Is not the feelings of the mind that lead to happiness and sorrow?
3167. The passion that rose in his mind , went and touched the end points of directions,And spread and due to that summer did create much more heat of sorrow and then he said,He asked “what is this season here now , the previous winter was better than this,And remove this summer and bring back, the winter season , speedily , “ he said.
3168. And then when the winter arrived as per his wish , and The very strong shoulders of Ravana became more hot than before , and he asked ,“Would cool climate of winter cause heat? This is indeed the old winter , “he said ,To that his servants replied “Oh Lord, we would be afraid to do any thing ,That is not ordered by you “ and he said , “All seasons appear ,To be bad and so remove all the seasons immediately.”
3169. As soon as he told this , all seasons went away from there and as ,None of the seasons did cause their effect and were staying ,Like sages without any attachments and after that all worlds,Left off their karmic relations like diseases and the world ,Became like world of salvation which only can be got,By doing very great penance , without any changes whatsoever.
3170. Even though the entire world which is surrounded by the sea ,Became a place without heat or cold , the blue body of Ravana,Started burning without any oil , because this has not come due to seasons ,And this fire that burns due to passion can only be put out by good conduct ,And it is well known that there is no other way to put it out.
3171. The Cloud which has absorbed water , Garland of lotus flowers ,The cool sandal paste mixed with the powder of musk ,The soft pollen and cool gems were applied on his body ,And that Ravana who becomes greatly depressed due to great heat,Summoned servants standing near by “It is known that moon has coolness,And so all of you run from here and get me the moon.”
3172. When the moon who had no mental strength to go above that cruel city ,And was travelling by the side of the city , the servants searched and found out ,The full moon and told him “Do not get scared , the king has summoned you,”And that Moon after getting rid of his mental worries , rose above that city.”
3173. Like a enemy king , when he was weak and was not having anything ,To avenge the stronger one who defeated him and appeared before him,The moon who was in the sea rose up from the sea of good waters ,Mixed with sand and looking like he has come with joy To give sorrow to Ravana and torment him ,became visible to him..
3174. Due to spreading of his rays which are likable in all directions,And having an intention of troubling Ravana who was neither liked in earth,Or heaven , it appeared as if it is the wheel of Lord Vishnu, who sleeps on a serpent ,Who had sent the wheel with an intention of destroying Ravana.
3175. The soft cool rays of the moon emitted after drinking all the nectar,From the near by ocean of milk and which spread all over the place ,Made the Rakshasa who had bent eye brows as well as reddish eyes, Feel that just melted boiling silver in a burning fire was thrown at him
3176. Enquiring and coming to know about the prettiness of the dear daughter of Janaka,The king of Mithila which had fields of red paddy surrounding it,Who was moving about in the world like a streak of lightning ,That ray of the moon gave great pain to the mind of Ravana,Who had lost his greatness and all types of welfare ,Like the fame of an enemy who can never be defeated scalding his mind.
3177. That king Ravana who scared even the God of death wearing ,Huge anklets of heroism told his assistants I asked you to bring here that moon,Who has body made of cool rays and not this Sun who is like a destroying fire,Great anger , heart full of poison and hot rays , So go and bring him.
3178. When Ravana asked like this , those assistants got scared and said to him,“It is impossible for us to bring here in this way any one who has not been,Approved by you . The red sun does not come here except on his chariot ,And though moon is causing heat he is travelling on a plane .
3179. That Ravana who has never this type of love sickness which is ,Suffered by those lovers who love ladies with hips which defeat the serpents ,And have a talk which is cooling , suffering due to the moon understood the truth,That this moon is the enemy of the cool lotus flower and once he understood that,He started requesting that moon to save his life and started talking.
3180. “Oh king of stars , your body is eroding away , Your body has become pale,You are black inside , Instead of giving coolness you are producing heat.Did you who is on the top also like me hear about the prettiness of Sita,By those who have seen her , Due to no assistants to protect me from the arrows shot at me,By the flower arrows of God of love I am standing tired like this ,Please tell me about who can save my life .”
3181,. “You have been defeated by the lotus face with blue lotus like eyes ,Of Sita born in a great family , who has become god of death to my soul,And because of that your mind(inside) got burnt , you also started ,Producing heat from your body , your body has eroded .If you start worrying about other people’s possessions like this ,Is it possible to get victory ? If you understand that it ,Is not possible for you , It is proper that you keep quiet.”
3182. After talking in various ways like this , “remove night as well this moon,Bring the Sun as well as day time as before “ and when Ravana ordered like this ,The unimaginable moon as well as the night went away and within a seconds time ,The very famous Sun and the day time started spreading .
3183. With sun spreading like molten gold similar to the fire giving pout sparks, Due to the Brahmins who were expert in “Rik” pouring ghee in to the sacrificial fire The lotus the best among flowers opened and due to the coming of the Sun,The lily flowers due to getting wealth not suitable to it , became proud ,Not living the peaceful life , lost the wealth that it got and looked like mean people.
3184. Sun who is the ornament to the world coming through one path ,The moon the lord of the night became shy , lost its brilliance ,And with a shivering body went far away from there,And appeared like the displaced small king tottering before his famous lord.
3185. Several Rakshasa ladies wearing many types of ornaments of the ears, On the bed of flowers enjoyed hugging their wedded husbands and ,Due to love tiff in between making of love due to anger , did not realize ,That the night got over (by order of Ravana) and did not end the tiff in their sleep or dream.
3186. In the mid of the night , since their lord have left them ,Feeling as if their soul has gone from their body , The shivering of their body did not end and like the well grown new blue lotus flowers ,Dripping honey they also had black eyes dripping tears.
3187. Some others , lying on the bed of cotton over which flowers ,Were spread ended their love play and like the coral plant climbers,Hugged tightly with both hands , their sweet soul like husbands and slept.
3188. With bees humming in the water of rut flowing on their cheeks,With the light of the most lustrous sun entering there , the elephants,Which are in rut and had not woken up properly resembled ,The drunkards who were rolling on the sweet bed without getting sleep.
3189. Like the ladies of good families who were living away from .Their soul like husbands who were great in wisdom,The lamps in various parts of the city , though the ghee Poured in them had not dried up lost their brilliance due to coming of the Sun.
3190. The flowers like lotus which ought to open in the ,Early morning , though the sun rise leading to their opening is past,Did not open and were like the long closed eyes of ,The Rakshasa ladies who were lying on broad beds.
3191. In that city the eyes of those who sleep as they wish ,Did not open even after the coming of day time ,And like the closed doors of big mansions owned by misers,Who never had a thought , that they would give alms to those who ask.
3192. Becoming happy due to the extended day time hours ,The Chakravaka birds which suffer poison like parting during night ,Due to the mercy of the suffering going away in day time ,Became mentally happy like the very good fated ones.
3193. The singing bees that visit the flowers like lily which open daily Only on the rising of moon and which do not obey the orders of Sun Were looking depressed like the musicians who have reached,The doors of those people who do not find any use for such arts.
3194. Even when the hot sun entered the houses through the windows,On which rare gems were studded and woke up from sweet sleep ,The Rakshasa ladies , did not understand the circumstances ,And remained with faint and in a very mentally confused state.
3195. Those very wise people after doing research in astronomy ,And those experts in astrology as well as the cock which heralds the morning .Without having the power to understand the order of Ravana,Continued in their state of sleepy state .
3196. When all such things were happening all over the world ,That Ravana who wears heroic anklet that makes sound ,Saw the Sun by his own eyes , thought, that this Sun,As fire Is burning the mind of those who think about himAnd so he is also like the moon.
3197. Those who heard this told him, “Oh wealthy one ,This is not the moon , it is indeed the red sun and that is the,Green chariot drawn by the horses with long manes.The hot sun only burns and the cool moon ,When it touches the body only makes it cold.”
3198. The Ravana who was like a blue mountain with many peaks,“That Sun who is standing there is more cruel than poison,Remove him and also the sea which is making great sound.”After ordering like this he said, “call that crescent of the evening moon,Who came here before “ he ordered his servants.
3199. AS soon as Ravana ordered like this , that moon ,Who was full on that day , came up in another direction,As the young crescent of the moon , Unless you ,Perform great penance is it possible to do such things.
3200. That evil minded Ravana seeing the moon’s crescent ,In the west said , “this indeed is the northern fire otherwise,It is the sharp teeth of Adhi sesha who lifts the earth,Or otherwise “ The evening” getting angry at me ,And is coming to kill me with a curved knife.”
3201. ”That Lord Shiva who swallowed the cruel poison ,That had come out from the cool ocean of milk ,And hid it in his neck , Has possibly kept this crescent ,On his head decorated with kondrai flowers in this place, is my thought.”
3202. That full moon which ate away my soul with ,The strength of thunder has possibly ran away ,And come out in this form but is no less cruel,And is the big form of the poisonous serpent.Even though it is small , it is no less poisonous.”
3203. , He ordered, “The sun who came before appears ,To be better . Remove this crescent from the sky, for ,If it is going to trouble me who is very strong ,People may talk,Let some one who suffers in the seven worlds escape.Is there a possibility for them to talk like that and ,I think it is better for me to see the blackest darkness.
3204. AS soon as the young crescent was removed , the darkness which was easy to touch ,Which was like a stone on which several objects could be rubbed , Which was like something we can cut off,By sword if we desire , Was sweet to look at ,And was like several pillars appearing as a crowd.
3205. Is it necessary to tell that darkness was suitable to be cut in pieces And polished in to a pillar ? When after getting the complete ,Knowledge and not allowing the faultless wealth of questioning ,To enter in it and light it from inside and understanding that ,The real blindness in this world the mental blindness ,And becoming suitable to that name with Merciful glances And become dried up of mercy then that darkness was darker than human mind
3206”. Without being cut to pieces , densely packed and without space ,Growing even bending the sky that darkness which did not fit anywhere ,Completely covered the wide spread world like the matchless lord Shiva ,Swallowed that poison, without considering that it would Destroy all peoples and all things “Said that Ravana.
3207. “I understood that this poison which was born in the ocean of milk,Which was called Halahala and was swallowed by Lord Shiva by his power Cannot be controlled by this darkness and I have understood that ,The fire serpent called the final deluge which can destroy the earth,The sky and every other thing by licking them with its toungue ,And trying so solve my problem is like treating the blackness with black colour”
3208. ,”Before me who is suffering great pain alone , a coral branch,To which there is no proper comparison with the darkness ,That cannot be pierced either by arrow or fire ,Carrying the cloud which has great darkness as edge ,And having the collection of small coconuts in it,And like the lamp which carries the moon , is appearing.
3209. ”Is it an illusion due to the confusion of passion,Has my brain altered? I am now clear, What is this form that I see?Inside this darkness which cannot even be compared to the thickened Kajal,One moon with great light , along with ear globes on both ears ,Along with very black curly hair is appearing before me.”
3210. ”The bridge that connects the breasts which appears risen on both sides ,With waist that is not visible to my eyes and except that I am able to see ,All its body parts .This form has eyes which have drunk poison and ,Slowly and slowly it has transformed in to the form of a young girl,And has completely occupied one portion of my mind.”
3211. Earlier I have seen several ladies of the seven worlds ,But I have not seen a form of a lady which resembles this form,And suppose this form is different from all the ladies of this world,I think she is the same young lady with hair surrounded by bees,Who was described by my sister Soorpanakha to me.”
3212. ”Unable to bear to know that I am suffering from love sickness,And that I am sorrowing because of it Sita must have come in search of me ,What recompense can I do to her? Please immediately summon Soorpanakha Who has personally seen her who is sweet so that I can enquire with her ?”
3213. As soon as Ravana ordered like this and when they speedily summoned her ,And she who was born to completely uproot the tribes of RakshasasWho were capable of great efforts and who had lost her nose and ears with ear globes,Arrived there with a mind which was filled with one sided love.
3214. ,That Ravana whose sharp sword was applied with good ghee ,Looking at the cruel Soorpanakha whose mind was filled with lies ,Who had come before him and asked “Oh lady , please look at me deeply.Is the one who has lustrous eyes applied with Kajal and ,Who is standing before me , is she the one named Sita, Please tell.”
3215. And she said, “He with red lotus like eyes, with lips like red fruit,With sandal applied high shoulders , with very long hands ,With a chest decorated with a pretty garland and he who looks like a blue mountain,Is That great Rama who holds the great and strong bow.”
3216. Ravana said, “The form that I saw is feminine , Oh ignorant one,And you are telling about a masculine form whom I have never thought about,This is surprising to me . Who are they who have played this illusion on us,When both of us have learned the great art of making one completely lose their brain.”
3217. Soorpanakha told him, “this is usual with you .The passion that has taken,A huge form in you , which makes attention not travel from one place to another ,Is heating you up and wherever your eye sees , you see only her form.”
3218. When she told like this That Rakshasa told , “let what you told,Come true but how is it that you are only seeing that Rama everywhere?”And she replied “ From the time that Rama did this harm to me,From then onwards I am not able forget him at all.”
3219. ”True , true What you have told seem to be proper ,I am suffering because both my body and mind has been baked,Where is freedom from me from this cruel fate ?When Ravana asked like this she told , “Oh lord ,Why is it You who are the matchless leader of this world ,Getting depressed like this . You go and steal that Sita,Who had a hair that is decorated by flowers” she said.
3220. After saying this she went away and that Rakshasa lost his balance ,And he became one who will not get wisdom from anything ,With a turbulent soul he became famished and all those ,Who work for him shivered and they thought , if he manages to ,Keep himself alive . His situation has become like that.
3221 . Just like the saying, “dead one has come alive “ Ravana who got his,Sweet life back , understanding his strength addressing those who were near by told,”Please build a hall of Moonstones which drip water like milk coming out when you milk,Which is pretty . Order this to be done by the best of artists.”
3222. ” The great architect of devas, Viswakarma who understood the order of Ravana,Came there and planned for a pretty moon stone hall with one thousand pillars,Which made even the Lord of the lotus shy and not only that he built it.”
3223. He fixed those moon stones from top to bottom so that ,Even when moon is not there , the drip of nectar like water was there ,He made small windows so that the breeze would come in with scent of flowers ,He also created a cool garden Karpaga gardens with gems ,Which would fulfill all the wishes one has.
3224. Surrounded by Deva maidens who wore pretty ornaments ,Who were carrying in their hands which were ornamented with golden jewels ,The lamps which were giving out light on both sides ,With the night which had spread all over the sky ran away ,That Ravana with huge soldiers climbing on a plane made of gems,Came to inspect that great hall that was made of gems.
3225. Though that place had darkness as if thousand crore ,Darkness was kept there With the cool moon like faces ,Of the deva maidens and due to the collection of several thousand crores ,Of great moon lights which give out cold being collected there ,The night that was in that hall ran away with great speed.
3226. The nine precious gems which are the flowers of Karpaga tree Looked like the day time rays of the sun and the catch of darkness ,Got loosened and the day time was formed .Is it not the greatness ,Of Karpaga tree that though Sun was not visible , the light flows from the tree.
3227. Ravana who was not able to differentiate between tough , sound and other ,Feelings , who was having a very confused mind and was not knowing,‘What to do’ , pulled by the great desire entered in to that moon stone hall,As if he has taken another birth and possessed a fresh new body.
3228. Like the round ocean of milk in which the Makara fishes wandered ,Which like mother used to give whatever was requested by the devas,Who destroyed their desire and did penance , came with a pot of nectar,Ravana reached the bed of flowers and golden leaves surrounded by bees.
3229. The gentle breeze from the south which arranged a feast,To the God of love in the sweet smelling pretty sweet gardens ,Which was filled the smell of flowers from the hair ,Of well ornamented ladies , which was like the nectar ,Willingly given by the ocean which produced great sound ,And which was capable of getting back ,The soul of the person even if he has lost it.
3230. That Ravana who had eyes spitting fire which looks with great anger ,Could not tolerate the breeze entering through the window and wafting,Became angry as if he has seen a python entering the home,Called his servants and told them as follows.
3231. ”Just like the little water that appeared in the well has ,Drowned the entire world , Wind God who is one of the devas ,Has become capable of causing harm to me and he asked ,How did this breeze enter here without my order,Call immediately those servants who guard this place.”
3232. Then those assistants ran and brought those guards ,And Ravana looked at them with his red cruel eyes ,And made them scared and that Ravana who was short tempered asked them,“Did you provide the way to the breeze to come here?, they said,“When you came here you did not order us not to allow breeze inside .”
3233. “If the devas can come here whenever they like ,Does it mean that rule of my law has already died,So immediately search everywhere and go to far off places ,Search and find out wind God , catch him and put him in the great prison here “ he said.
3234. Then he again told “ there is no point in getting angry on wind God.If I do not attain the true love of the black spear eyed Sita ,The God of death would come quickly near me and so ,Go and bring ministers who by their strength, know the future” ordered Ravana.
3235. Those assistants that received this order before “A” is utterered ,Went and called for the ministers everywhere and when they called like that,The Devas of heaven and all the mentally upset ministers ,Riding on chariots with flags , on horses , on palanquins ,And on elephants which poured water of rut reached there.
3236. After discussing faultlessly with the ministers who came there,His mind did not get clear and he wanted only to do what he wished,Without any other help got in to a plane travelling in the sky ,Reached the hermitage of Mareecha who was doing penance controlling his senses.
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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.