By Kambar (Kavichakravarthy Kamban)
Translated in English by P. R Ramachander
Kamba Ramayanam-Aranya Kandam 4 (Padalam 9)
Aranya Kandam (contd)
9. Ravanan choozhchi Padalam
Chapter on Ravana’s trick.
(Ravana appears like a sage before Sita, who hospitably receives him. When he tells that he had come from Lanka and has a great regard for Ravana, Sita says Ravana is a cruel monster, Ravana then takes his original form, digs the hermitage and keeps it on his chariot and proceeds to Lanka. Sita cries and prattles. In Valmiki Ramayana, Ravana catches hold of Sita and keeps her in his plane and tries to fly away. There is no mention of charioteer there.)
3319. We till now told what happened to Rama who was like ,The matchless blue sea with conches when he went in chase,Of the golden deer and now we will tell what happened,To Sita who decorated her hair with flowers which were fragrant.
3320. When the words shouted by Mareecha opening his cave like mouth,Which was sad to hear reached the ears of Sita , she became as sad as a Koel,Which slipped from a tree and fell , She beat her belly with hands and fell down fainted
3321. Saying “I who am ignorant has brought to an end my happy life ,With my husband by telling him, “You yourself catch this deer and give to me,”And like a flowering branch catching fire and like a long serpent ,Losing its strength on hearing the thunder, she fell down and rolled on earth.
3322. ”My great lord who does not have any fault , due to the cheating,Done by that cruel Rakshasa, has fallen down dead and even after hearing it,You who are his younger brother is still standing near me”, she said.
3323. ”In this world which is simple , is there any one who is more strong, And great than Rama? You have told this due to feminine understanding “Said Lakshmana who understood it , in a manner that Sita would understand.
3324. Would the individual valour Of Rama in any cruel war , would be less than,The small strength of all those people in seven seas , Fourteen worlds , Seven mountains ? This would never happen” said Lakshmana
3325. ” All the Earth , water , wind , sky and the fire and others besides these ,Would get agitated as soon as Rama gets angry and why are you,Getting drowned in this ocean of sorrow ? What are you thinking about,That Rama who is black like cloud and with eyes like red lotus flower?”
3326. ”Would Rama become weakened and call for help when sorrowing Before another Rakshasa? If perchance he calls all the huge ,Universes would come down and get destroyed andThe life of Brahma and other devas also would get destroyed?”
3327. “What more can I tell about prowess of Rama? Is there ,Any other strength which is comparable to his strength by which ,He stringed and broke the huge bow of Lord Shiva who destroyed,Three cities and was praised by heaven as well as earth for it ?’
3328. ”If Rama has been destroyed as you think then by now,The heavens, earth and Patala would have been destroyed by this time ,All the devas and sages who were existing from beginning as well as,The best among people would have by now been destroyed.Also Dharma would have been destroyed.”
3329. ”What else should I tell in detail ? When our Lord Rama shot the arrow ,And when it hit that deer in that place , that Rakshasa who must have,Lost his strength would have shouted those words loudly ?Please do not sorrow , getting worried by it ,Please stay calm.” Lakshmana told.
3330. When Lakshmana told like this , with greatly ebbing anger ,She who felt sorrow as if she was killed , one with boiling mind ,And one who is not afraid of anything said, “After hearing ,The bad things that might have happened to Rama , your ,Not going there is not justice” Said she with great enmity.
3331. ”Even if a person has moved only for one day with another ,He would sacrifice his life and other one due to the other person’s love,But you , though you have heard that Rama has been destroyed ,Are standing without getting scared? What other way do I have?I would now itself speedily fall in the fire and die.” She said.
3332. Seeing Sita who was like a swan jumping over the forest of lotus flowers,Who was preparing herself to jump in the huge fire with great smoke ,Lakshmana who was requested to guard her by Rama, stopped her,Touched the space below the lotus like feet of Sita and told.
3333. ”Why should you die? I am scared after hearing your words ,Please get rid of your sorrow and be here itself , I would go now ,Are we ones who can win over the very angry fate “ he said.
3334. ” I am going now itself , a great danger has come to us by itself,You want me to disobey Rama and want me to go,You are alone without any support “ saying this Lakshmana,Whose heart was bursting with great sorrow , took leave of her.
3335. ,He was greatly worried thinking “If I am here ,That Sita,Would jump in the fire and if I go to Rama who is like a mountain,The lady would be left without any guard and evil may come to her.What should I who have interest in my life do now?”
3336. ”Only by Dharma we can prevent any loss of life and if I do not leave here ,Going against the wish Of Sita , she would definitely die? And so,The only thing that I dares to do is to go from here”I am an ignorant one who has attained by my bad and old fate.”
3337. ”I would go but if something bad were to happen , to the extent possible,Jatayu , the king of hawks would protect her “ saying like this That Lakshmana went by the same route , due to the penance of devas.
3338. “As soon as Lakshmana left , Ravana who had curved teeth,And who was expecting him to go , to complete the cruel plan of his,Took the form of a sage holding the well tied three bamboo sticks.Which would destroy the three ills of passion, anger and illusion.”
3339. He had a well dried body appearing as if he has not taken food,And appeared as if he has with great difficulty walked a long distance,And was singing musical songs following proper beats ,The Sama Veda which was like the music from Veena.
3340. He was having a soft walk like the petals of flowers have been spread,And was taking steps as if the entire floor was full of burning embers,And was having shivering feet as well as hand that cannot be protected ,And was having a form of a very old man , which would make him hateful to others.
3341. He was wearing a garland of penance made of lotus beads ,Appearing as if he was like a tortoise which has controlled its five senses ,Had a bent body , had a great chest wearing the sacred thread ,And reached the hermitage of Sita who had a stainless mind like Arundathi.
3342. That Ravana who had put on a garb of a saint could even mislead devas ,And he reached the doors of that faultless hermitage , He had a voice ,Which seemed to shiver and falter and asked “Who is living in this hermitage .?”
3343. Sita who was in the forest , thinking that he was one with faultless mind,And faultless penance , who had sweet voice like the honey syrup,And who was as pretty as the coral branch came out,To receive him and said “Please come over here.”
3344. He who had a body which sweats like the Kanmadha (viscous rock) of the mountains,Who has been caught up in the sea of passion due to love saw herWho was an ornament to beauty , who is the seat of fame and Who is the queen for virtue using his own eyes.
3345. Let us now see the state of the mind of the thirsting mind Ravana who has seen,Sita with the sweet voice like that of a koel which is not tired,And who had a beauty that was much greater that beauty of divine maidens.His arms which had great valour increased in size on seeing her and then became thin.
3346. What is the use of telling that the row of eyes of Ravana on seeing Sita,Who was having the prettiness of the peacocks that wander in the forest,Became joyous like the crowd honey bees which visited the garden full of flowers ,Filled with honey and drunk it and were dancing with joy ? it is better ,To say that it became joyous like the mind of Ravana.
3347. Are the twenty eyes which do not blink sufficient to see ,The gem like red body of Sita who was looking like goddess Lakshmi,Who had come there leaving her seat of lotus flowers ? He became ,Sad that he did not have one thousand such non blinking eyes?
3348. Ravana thought , Is the life span of three and half crore years,That I got doing great faultless penance sufficient to play ,In the shore less sea of the beauty of her who had large number ,Of bangles in her fore arms and who was the best among ladies.
3349. Ravana thought , with devas along with their wives ,Obeying all the orders that I put to them and becoming slave to her,For generations and with this girl ruling all the three worlds,I would obey her orders and live happily with her.
3350. “Even when her mind is paining and she is sorrowing ,If her face shines like this , when she breaks in to a smile,Like a streak of lightning , how will her beauty be?To my sister who saw this lady with the untied hair ,And gave her to me, I would give her even my kingship,”
3351. When that Ravana , the one without Dharma was thinking like this ,And staring her with greatly increasing desire , that virtuous Sita,Rubbed off the tears from her eye and then welcomed him,Saying “Please do come here.”
3352. Sita after welcoming him and after he reached her hermitage ,Gave him a seat of cane and requested him to sit on it and that ,Famous cheat Ravana kept his hand at rest with three sticks byAnd sat in the hermitage which was beautified by flowers.
3353. The mountains and trees shivered on seeing that Rakshasa,Of greatly sinful and cruel deeds , the birds stopped cooing ,The big wild animals were scared and the snakes did not open their hood.
3354. Ravana who took his seat asked “which is this home ?,Which great saint lives here? And who are you?” and then,Sita thinking that he was new to that place and is one,Without deceit and she with long eyes started talking to him.
3355. ”Oh great one , the son of Dasaratha belonging to the Ikshuvaku clan,Along with his younger brother , as per the orders of his mother ,Who was born in the great Kekaya clan , is staying hereYou might possibly be knowing his name “ said she.
3356. ”I have heard about what you told but I have not seen him,I had once gone to that prosperous kingdom through which,River Ganges flows. Oh lady with a long eye which is like ,Lotus flower as well as sword, Whose daughter are you,Why are you spending time in this harsh forest” , he asked.
3357. That faultless lady of great Virtue Sita after hearing his words,Said, “Oh saint who is following the faultless Dharma , Janaka ,Is one who thinks about people like you and not God and ,I am his darling daughter and my name is Janaki ,And I am the wife of Rama belonging to Kakustha clan.”
3358. Then after telling about her story that Sita asked him,“Oh very old man , you have suffered because you have ,Come through the harsh path in the forest and doing penance ,You have wanted to cross the sins and blessed deeds.From where have you come here”, she asked.
3359. Ravana told “He is the Lord of Indra himself ,He posseses the prettiness of the picture , He was born in clan of Brahma,And He is ruling all the countries including those in heaven,And he has a toungue on which the manthras of Vedas reside.”
3360. ”He has the strength to even uproot the very big Kailasa mountain, On Which the Lord Shiva lives and he has great shoulders ,Using which he had powdered the tusks of elephants,Which carry this world from eight different directions.”
3361. “All the people who are crowding his entrance door are Devas,And all the assets of Devas like the Karpaga tree are with him,The place where he lives in the famous city of Lanka surrounded by the sea, And while telling about his greatness the words lose their power.”
3362. ”His town is sweeter than the golden city Of Indra ,The ancient city of Bhogavathi which is frequented by the serpents And in fact all cities of this world and that of heaven and everything ,In the city of his are completely without any fault.
3363”. He is having the endless life span as given by Lord Brahma ,Who sits on the lotus flower . He has a big hand holding the great sword given ,By Lord Shiva who has given, half of himself to the Goddess ,He has a prison in which all the planets are imprisoned,And in fact he is the top most in each and every good quality.”
3364. ,”He is one with good qualities without cruelty . He is an expert in wide Vedas,He is unbiased , He has the prettiness wanted by the God of love ,And he has all the greatness of all the three Gods,Who are considered as the greatest ones by all the world.”
3365. There are many best among the prettiest ladies of the world,And who are all thirsting for his love and though they are,Pining away for him , he is not interested in giving them joy,But is searching for a lady who is sweet to his heart.”
3366. “Very much liking the great city from which he rules ,I wanted to stay there for a few days and though I stayed,There for a long time, with a mind not willing to part with him .I came here” said he who wanted to kidnap Sita.
3367. Sita asked, “Oh saint who thinks that even body is an extra burden,Without liking Vedas and the mercy of those who have learnt VedasWhat is the reason for you to stay in a town of Rakshasa who does sinful acts ,And who eats men who are rational and are stable>’
3368. “You avoided staying with sages of great penance in the forest,You did not think about very pretty and prosperous countries with plenty of water ,And you have stayed with a crowd of Rakshasas who never think about Dharma,Oh saint , what type of activity is this “ Sita asked.
3369. Having heard what has been told by the lady, he who has got limitless boons,“If faultless people tell that the Rakshasas who swing the sword are cruel,We would not get scared and if we really think about the truth ,Oh lady with the shining face like full moon , Are the Rakshasas more cruel,Than the devas and to people like is Rakshasas are good people.”
3370. When Ravana told like that , Sita who wore very good ornaments thought “Those good people who have friendship with cruel people cannot be pure,To explain it more properly those who have connection with old cruel habits,”And as she was not aware that the Rakshasas who are expert in illusion, Can take any form which they like and so she did not think otherwise.
3371. Ravana who hearing the words Of Sita though she has,Started suspecting him , wanting to avoid that completely ,Started talking in a different way “ in the three worlds ,Which does not have difference in knowledge ,For the Rakshasas what is the alternative except, Following their own culture “.
3372. As soon as the Cheater Ravana who had ability to know The state of mind told those words , Sita told him that “ Rama ,Who has come to reinstate Dharma , by the time he completes,The penance in the forest , the Rakshasas who travel in cruel path,Would be completely eliminated along with their clan ,And so there would not be any sorrow because of them.”
3373. As soon as the human lady told like this , Ravana told,“Oh Lady who has shining eyes like the fishes , If human beings can,Completely uproot the population of Rakshasas then,The entire crowd of elephants would be killed by small rabbits,And the crowd of Lions with curved nails would be killed by the deer.”
3374. ”Viradha who had red hair which looked like a bundle of streaks ,Of lightning, , The very angry Khara who had a matured mind ,Along with his innumerable army died , which gave riseTo sound of great joy and possibly you have not heard it.”And the rain thinking about the end of those shed tears.”
3375. “Oh faultless one , The lion that you told about is Rama and the Rakshasas ,Are comparable to the crowd of deer and you are going to see soon ,The destruction of all Rakshasas and the joy of the devas because of that,How can Dharma which cannot be forsaken be defeated by sin, Don’t you know , it cannot.”
3376. When the soft words of Sita which were like honey mixed with nectar ,Entered his ears , Ravana though he had a body which expands with joy,Due to his self respect being hurt by the words that human beings are strong, became very angry.
3377. That angry Ravana replied “if you praise Rama that he gave an end,To the silly persons like Viradha , you would know about its end tomorrow itself,When the great wind from the twenty shoulders of Ravana blows,And destroys the small silk cotton flower like man.
3378. “Oh innocent lady who babbles some words Whether ,One wants to uproot the great Meru mountain or break the sky,Or stir the waters of the ocan , or destroy the northern fire of Badavagni,Or uproot the earth or do any of those great acts ,None of them are difficult to perform for Ravana, what do you think of him.”
3379. Then Sita asked “Just because one has many more big shoulders ,Does it mean that they are powerful? Did not Parasurama with his two shoulders ,That too in his young age cut off the one thousand stout shoulders ,Of Kartha Veeryarjuna who wore a heroic anklets and imprisonedThe king of Lanka surrounded by the sea with the water crows.”
3380. When she told like that his eyes burnt , his big shoulders ,Further expanded , his ten crowns touched the sky,The strong twenty hands clapped against each other ,The row of teeth biting themselves created the sound of thunder from clouds,And due to great anger the form that he took due to illusion vanished.
3381. Sita thinking that this man who has taken this form is not a sage ,Who has forsaken the good and the bad and getting suspicion,And when she was standing there not able to conclude who he is,Ravana looked like the very poisonous snake which had,Opened its hood which has become greatly angry by itself.
3382. If we think about the sorrow of Sita who was already greatly sorrowing ,After she saw Ravana’s real form , how can there be more sorrow than that?There is nothing in the world which can be comparable to it.She did not do anything to escape and was shivering like ,When the God of death who cannot be stopped appears before her.
3383. Without bothering to think about my valour which made ,Devas do menial work for me , you said that a man who lives ,Lke a worm in this world as strong , You are alive only because you are a lady,Otherwise I would think of grinding you with my hand and eating you,And if I do that , I would then take away my own life”, said Ravana.
3384. “Oh lady who is as tender as a swan I would lift you in each of my heads,Which has not bowed before any one , separately and in a sweet manner ,And make the deva maidens wearing numberless ornaments ,Bow before your feet and obey you and then you can ,Become happy in the wealthy life of ruling all the fourteen worlds.”Said Ravana.
3385. She then closed both her ears tightly by her tender hands and said,“ Without bothering to think the good conduct by which I am protecting the virtue For the victorious Rama who holds the pretty bow, like a dog wanting ,To taste the ghee which is poured by sages in Yagna fire ,What words did you tell me , Oh Rakshasa.”
3386. ”Would I want to destroy the greatness of being born in a great clan,Bothering about losing my life which is temporary like the drop of water in the tip of grass?Before Rama with arrows which shine like lightning and .Which hits like thunder takes away your life , for the sake of protecting your life ,Run away from here and hide yourself”, Sita told.
3387. When Sita told like this , The Rakshasa who was standing before her ,Devoid of any mercy told her , “The arrow which would be sent by your husband,Comes to hit my chest which has destroyed the tusks of the elephants,Which guard all the eight directions , it would be like,An arrow made of flower sent to destroy a mountain.
3388. That Ravana who had shoulders more powerful than that of the mountains,That bear this world said, “Oh divine lady who is divine for other divine ladies,I am having a famished body due to the disease of passion that grew in my mind ,And please save my soul and give it to me and accept the great position of ,The divine ladies who wear heavy ear globes .” Saying this he saluted her.
3389. When he fell down to salute her feet , suffering like her soul,Falling on the blood stained sword Sita who was personification, Of patience cried with great sorrow and wailed, “Oh Lord ,Oh younger brother “
3390. Then at that time that bad soul Ravana , recollecting the curse ,Given to him Brahma , without touching the body of the divine lady,Due to the power of his shoulders which were like stone pillars ,Unearthed the hermitage from a depth of two miles below the earth.
3391. He kept the hermitage he has unearthed on his chariot which ,Was seen by Sita who wears pretty bangles but she could not see her soul like Rama, And like a streak of lightning falling on earth from the cloud ,She fainted and at that time Ravana wanted to go speedily by way of sky.
3392. When Ravana told the charioteer to drive his chariot with greater speed,She was rolling like a creeper which had fallen on the burning fire,And when she was getting flustered , greatly depressed and greatly tired ,She was telling “Oh Dharma , please save me speedily from this predicament.”
3393. ”Oh mountains , Oh trees , Oh peacocks , Oh Koels ,Oh male deer, oh female deer , oh male elephants, oh female elephants,Please understand the state of my unstable soul ,And go and tell about it to Rama and Lakshmana who have stable valour.”
3394. ”Oh clouds , Oh gardens , Oh Gods of the forest , you know ,The sad state of the honest and valorous Rama , if he loses me,Please , if you console me saying “do not be scared” , then,Possibly I would get saved and If I am saved is it bad for you ?”
3395. ”Oh Rama , for the sake of completely uprooting the Rakshasas,Would you not come here and send rain of arrows like blue clouds?Oh Protector , Oh brother , oh faultless Bharata ,Oh Shatrugna who is a brother , would you not come here and save me?”
3396. “Oh river Godavari , Oh River who is cool who has nature of melting,Oh mother like river who has got a very clear mind , please run,And inform my husband who has learnt all books without learning them,About my very sorrowful bad fate , Would you not do it?”
3397. ”Oh mountain springs which appear before me , Oh lions ,Who live in mountain caves , you would later laugh when you see,The twenty arms that unearthed me as well as his ten heads ,Fall down here and there by the powerful arrows of Rama?”
3398. Seeing Sita who was prattling many such things and who was wailing,With an opened mouth , Ravana who was unnecessarily wasting his life ,Said, “Oh lady who is wearing many ornaments and ear globes ,Who has very dense breasts , Would those human being s defeat me in war,And free you from me ? If they can let them do it “And then he clapped his hands together and loudly laughed.
3399. When that Ravana was telling all these in words , Sita looked at him,And told, through illusion you have created a deer and you made Rama,Who is like the God of death and who would kill you in some other place,You came here and are stealing me and if you know , the way ,By which you can save yourself , do not drive the chariot any further.
3400”: If you are a true hero , after you have heard about the fact that a few men,Have killed all your Rakshasas in a very short time and have cut off ,The nose and breasts of your sister , your coming like this using illusion ,Is only due to the deep fear that you have” she told and further told,
3401. When Sita told like this Ravana looked at her and told.“Oh lady , please hear this , If I start waging a war against ,The humans with a very weak body , My shoulders ,Which uprooted the mountain of God who has eyes on forehead,Would get a vey bad name and this act of cheating would lead to better results”
3402. That lady who was like a doll after hearing it told,Possibly fighting a war with the enemies of our clan is wrong ,.Possibly to fight with them holding the sword would shame us ,And to steal the ladies with virtue in deceit is only right thing,To the Rakshasas who do not have any mercy ,Which is a crime and which would bring bad name?
Download PDF (Kamba Ramayanam: Aranya Kandam 4 (Padalam 9)
Kamba Ramayanam: Aranya Kandam 4 (Padalam 9) – Kamba Ramayanam: Aranya Kandam 4(Padalam 9)
Download PDF: Kamba Ramayanam: Aranya Kandam 4 (Padalam 9) in English PDF
Read More :
Kamba Ramayanam: Aranya Kandam 4 (Padalam 9)
Kamba Ramayanam: Aranya Kandam 4 (Padalam 10)
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.