By Kambar (Kavichakravarthy Kamban)
Translated in English by P. R Ramachander
Kamba Ramayanam-Ayodhya Kandam 3 (Padalam 8)
8. Vanam pugu Padalam
Chapter on entry in to forest.
(Rama shows the special scenes in the forest to Sita and walking playfully they reach the hermitage of BHardwaja and who requests them to stay with him. Politely declining they walk towards Chithrakoota mountain . They reach river Yamuna cross it be building a catamaran. Then they reach a desert which though harsh became cool to receive them. They reach Chitrakoota mountain. Rama has some harsh words against Kaikeyi in this stage , There is no mention of any desert in Valmiki Ramayana )
1999. Similar to the mind of the base ones who make love to the prostitutes,It is not clear whether wetness exists in the earth in the early summer andThe gentle Rama reached the forest and immediately the cold mixed with nectar,Spread everywhere showing the signs of the coming of the clouds with great pride.
2000. The sun was shining its spreading rays like the young moon light which is cool,With the dense trees providing shade , with rain from clouds giving drops like dews,With the young breeze from south coming along with the fragrance ,They went by the sweet path where groups of peacocks were dancing.
2001”. Oh Lady who wears garland by her mind , who is like the deer as well as the young peacock,Now the Indragopa beetles waking from their sleep would start spreading everywhere,And heaps of flowers shed by the ixora plants would shine in the evening light ,And both together would resemble like costly gems studded to pure gold necklaces.”
2002. ”Oh lady on whom ornaments are natural, With young bees becoming joyous songsters,The sound of the rain fall acting like drums , the joy filled peacocks became shy,And they opened their wings which are normally folded and when they are dancing ,They saw by using the several eyes on their wings , they saw your form within them,And you are going to see many such sights , while we walk.” Rama told.
2003. ”Oh Sita who has body with perfume and softness of the pretty new leaves of mango,The pretty bird with red mouth was spreading red light , and was sitting ,On the pretty Kandhal flower and were caressing that flower and to me,It looked like that you were holding the pretty bird on your hands.”
2004”. Oh lady who had eyes which had the power of the spear anointed with ghee ,And which does not limit to the hands but goes up , when the peacock and young deer,Seeing the softness that is spread all over your body and also seeing your eyes,Perhaps thought that you belong to their species , for you can see many of them coming here.”
2005. ”In the surroundings where big flowers had fallen from the kuraa tree .Which is in full of flowering and from the rain of flowers from the bidava trees,A peacock which had risen from sleep with its feathers , its peahen,Thinking that it made love to another peahen and has entered in to a love tiff. You can see that.”
2006. ”Oh Sita who is like Arundathi , Oh lady who is sweeter than nectar The Asoka of the forest which bears the gold coloured cherunthi flowers with close petals ,Shine because of the black joyful bees which settle on them and you can see ,It is similar to the burning fire from the coal , which is blown by the goldsmith.”
2007. ”Oh lady who has young erect breasts, who has the prettiness of a picture ,One peacock which has fainted saw the bud of Kanthal plant by its eyes,Thought it is a snake seeing its nature of holding of the plant , And thought the jasmine buds with honey was its slow smile ,please see it.”
2008. You also see the strong tiger cub that lives on the mountains,The young elephant besides the she elephant , as night has fallen down and got chained,The young calf which are in the homes of cowherds ,And several other beings which are playing with each other .
2009. ”Oh lady, whose hair has been perfumed by smoke of Akil,Several flower branches whose ornaments are the smiling flowers,Are like the young ladies with budding breasts bathing in the ghats,And you can see them dipping in the river dressed in the silk like waves.
2010. ”Oh lady who has a pretty forehead which resembles the bow,Some bees drilling in to the fully open golden coloured flowers,Of the Konga tree , after drinking the honey are seen to be not singing,But sleeping and they look like blue gems studded on a shining gold plate.”
2011. ”The black male bees with wings , due to its consuming lot of honey,And due to that not able to open its eyes and see and not able ,To find a way by which they can travel with closed eyes like a blind man, Are going behind the female bees which sing and proceeds, please see them.”
2012. ”Oh lady who walks softly like a swan , the golden coloured Vengai and Konga trees,As if they have learn the art of decoration from virgin girls , are attaching,New soft flowers on your forehead along with hair and this looks like,They are loose untied fresh flowers which are soft, please see them.”
2013. ”Oh lady who is sweeter than deva maidens , like the crowd of brown moles ,On your breasts which are decorated by pearl ornaments, when the scented,Breeze blows from the south disturbs the pollen grains from the attractive scented flowersThey rise up and are closely scattered in between stones, please see them.”
2014. ”Oh lady with a voice like koel , possibly thinking that your soft feet,Would not be able to walk in the forest path, the crowd of trees,Are scattering flowers on all paths and you also please see ,That the creepers with flowers perhaps being shamed ,By your thin waists , keep on moving .”
2015. ,”Oh lady with eyes similar to sword , please see ,the ornaments that you wear,On your flower like feet are like the pretty bees which live on the new leaves,The clouds are like your dark and scented hair which can hide everything ,And please them as the parts of young bamboo which are like your shoulders.”
2016. This forest where crowds of deer , peacock and koels travel,With crowds of branches with flowers and buds of the Kulirntha valli creeper ,Which are of several colours and which are faultless and are similar ,To the picturesque curtains which are again like fire.”
2017-2018. That Rama who had huge shoulders decorated with gold ornaments,After saying all this and playing sweetly along with the good Sita , he proceeded in the forest path,And at that time the Sun reached the western side and Rama then said to Sita ,“Is this not the Chithrakoota mountain where sages who have won over their fate live”,And at that time, one great sage called Bharadwaja with a love ,Coming out of ebbing joy which makes the mind full said,“My long time penance has borne fruit today “ and came outTo receive Rama who is the doctor for sickness of birth death cycle.
2019. He held an Umbrella a straight staff as well as a water pot,He was having a huge matted hair , covered himself with a deer skin,Had good dress made of bark , had a form in which his hair hangs ,Had good character so that he protected Dharma and ,Had a toungue over which all the four Vedas danced.
2020. His only wealth was raising the fire which is red in colour,And he was Brahmin who protected all souls created by Brahma like his won,And if he is told, “create all the seven worlds” he could create them ,Just by his thought and did not need to be born from ,The lotus flower that grew from the belly of Lord Vishnu.
2021. AS soon that sage came , Rama threw flowers at him,And saluted him three times and that primeval sage , hugged him,And with a mind disturbed thinking that he had to hug Rama in this form,Stood seeing down with tears flowing from his eyes.
2022. ,”Oh Rama who holds a bow that can destroy your enemies,Who has the capacity to rule this earth for a very long time ,Instead of doing that why have you come to the forest with caves,Where the sages live and wearing the dress of a sage ,That does not suit you along with Lakshmana?” he asked
2023. Rama then related all the incidents that had happened so that,The sage could understand them and hearing that , the very good sage said,“Would such a thing happen at this time?” and grieved a lot and further said ,“Alas the great lady earth has not done great penance”
2024. ”How is it that my friend seeing you who is his matchless son , along with Sita Who has coral like red mouth which speak pure words and who is like a peacock,After saying “You both rule quickly this earth surrounded by the ocean” and immediately ,Again said, “Go to the forest blessed with tall trees”, and still manages to keep himself alive?”
2025. ”Does not sorrow and pleasure come in life alternatively?,Alas , these are the result of the good act and bad acts that we do,And because of that I know that no purpose is served by my sorrowing about it”Said the sage and then hugged Rama, and along with him entered his hermitage.
2026. After entering the hermitage , he gave them proper places top stay ,And gave them palatable fruits as well as vegetables , told them sweet words,With very great love and showered his grace on the soul like sons of his friend, And those sons also became very delighted by his hospitality.
2027. All of them stayed there and in the morning that expert in Vedas,Thinking that “If we live with him we would get great salvation” ,Did all that Rama needed sweetly and looking at Rama told,“Oh Rama who has a chest covered with freshly harvested flowers,There is a need for me to tell you about something.”
2028-2029. ”There is plenty of water here and also there is plenty ,Of flowers, big fruits and vegetables. Here bad acts would go away,And there is no dearth of good acts and so you all can stay with me,For to those who want to concentrated penance , there is no,Better place to live and also in this place the river Ganges joins,With river Yamuna as well as river Saraswathi and that is why,I am not going away from here, as these waters are sacred,Even to Lord Brahma and its greatness is that, such sages,Like me are prepared to stay here and so you also stay here.”
2030. When the sage who had undertaken great penance told like this with love ,Rama told him, “Oh sage who has a great mind due to great penance done by you,This place is not far away from the Kosala kingdom with great water resources,And if I stay here , all the people of Kosala would soon reach here.”
2031. ”Oh Lord Rama , what you say is true, The mountain Chitrakuta,Which even the devas salute is about ten Kadhams (12 km) from this garden.It is sweeter than even heaven and you please stay there with great love.”
2032. Saying this the sage bid them leave to go with great love ,And they after saluting the holy feet of the sage crossed,The land of cowherds with flute made of kondrai and Bamboo,And also crossed the peak of the mountain and by the time,The sun with its red rays attained the middle of the sky ,Saw the river Yamuna where calves of deer drink water.
2033. Those three who became coated with dust due to walking long distance ,Became glad on seeing river Yamuna and knowing the rituals to be done,Bathed in that river , ate roots along with thin fruits ,Drank water and Rama asked Lakshmana , “How di we cross the river?”
2034. That Lakshmana cut some banboos which can bend and using ,The manai creepers made a great catamaran and on that ,Rama with shoulders like huge stone boulders sat with his sweet lady,And Lakshmana crossed the river swimming with his two hands.
2035. The younger brother of the best man of Ayodhya which has,Fields irrigated by juice of sugarcane flowing away from factories,Used his shoulders which were like Mandhara mountains ,To swim and the displaced water went towards sea in the east swiftly,And the water displaced by the catamaran went towards sea in the west.
2036. They who were wearing the pretty apparel made by wooden bark,Crossed the river Yamuna and reached its other shore and after ,Walking a very long distance they reached a huge desert without roots or stems,Where the land was burnt and made even the mind thinking about it hot.
2037. As soon as Rama thought that Sita would not be able to cross it,The Sun who is very hot cooled his rays like that of moon, the king of stars,And the dried plants in that hot desert again produced green leaves,And all the very hot surroundings became forest of lotus flowers.
2038. The sharp dried plant like stones which appeared to have been ,Planted in the fire , became cold like flowers which have been transplanted,They also had moisture and the broken and thrown out plants ,Gave out young leaves and the seething sword serpent ,Started giving out nectar from its teeth and became joyous.
2039. Clouds came in large number and thundered and gave ,Cool rain drops to the earth and the hunters who were having bows,Did not cause harm to the souls of sages and young kids of the deer,Started drinking milk from tigresses which hugged and stood near them,
2040. The serpents which used to live in mountain caves with burnt bellies,Which were angry did not suffer any sorrow and felt as if they were ,Lying in water with tides and the bamboo which grew up in the great forest,Which had earlier got burnt along with its roots , now became soft like ,The shoulders of hunter women who had pearl like teeth.
2041. The grass which spread on the ground were like a green carpet ,Spread on the ground and peacocks waving their feathers , like dames,Practiced dance on both its sides , the bees followed these peacocks ,Like Pana musicians and sang soulful music.
2042. Fruits though it was not time to them to ripen , ripened ,And big root crops though the roots for their growth were absent,Grew in to a large size in the earth and the flower laden branches ,Became similar to pretty ladies and flowered and shined.Is there a penance giving pleasure besides good character?
2043.The huts where hunters used to live became like hermitages of saints,And on both sides the Indragopa bees which were like red gems appeared.And in all near by trees male koels sang calling females who have left them,And the Kurundha trees gave rise to new growth similar to base of peacock feathers.
2044. That forest then was like the burning mind of ladies ,With scented hair who had left their soul like lovers in battle field tents And in places where people go to earn money with a promise ,That they would return quickly and it became like ,The mind of those ladies becoming cool when those lovers,Wearing heroic anklets had come back and joined them.
2045. They crossed slowly that desert which had got over its blemishes,And they saw the Cithrakuta mountains which was tall like a male elephant,Looking at a cloud hiding the moon and thinking it as its female elephant,Who had its baby in her stomach and extended its palm tree like trunk towards the sky.
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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.