By Kambar (Kavichakravarthy Kamban)
Translated in English by P. R Ramachander
Kamba Ramayanam-Ayodhya Kandam 4 (Padalam 12)
12. Gangai kaan padalam
The chapter on seeing ganges.
(Guha suspects the intentions of Bharata and gets ready to attack him.Sumanthra then tells Bharata and about who Guha is. Seeing him dressed in bark and coated with dust Guha decided to go and meet him. Bharata salutes him and all misunderstandings are removed. Bharata requests Guha to help him cross the river Ganges. With Guha’s help all of them cross the river. Bharata introduces his mothers including Kaikeyi to Guha. All of them reach the hermitage of Bhardwaja. According to Valmiki Ramayana though Guha suspects Bharata , it was he who goes and meets him in his tent. There is a very detailed talk of Guha with Bharata about Lakshmana in Valmiki Ramayana . It is just mentioned in Kamba Ramayana.)
2303. The pretty tender hearted Bharata who wears the hero’s ,Anklets made of Gold who had a matchless army , moving ,Away from Kosala country which was like the Chozha country ,Made prosperous by Cauvery river , reached the banks of Ganges,Pitied by all moving and not moving beings.
2304. The large river Ganga which has lots of water ,Due to stream of rut water from cruel elephants ,Flowing everywhere became unfit to be drunk and Taken bath in by numerous bees and other insects .
2305. The dust raised entered in the world of devas ,Hit the heads of devas and spread every where there,We do not know about this but those which breathed heavily ,Swam in the stream and rolled on the mud were only horse groups.
2306. The water that flowed in the Gamges river was white like milk,Did not go and join the huge sounding long sea like it did earlier,But the ocean like army of the king with a flower decorated crown ate it away.
2307. The army that followed Bharata , who went to see Lord Rama ,Who had gone in to the forest in that way has been estimated,By elders as sixty thousand Akronis*.*21870 elephants , 21870 chariots , 65610 horses and 190350 land army.
2308. When the great army reached the river Ganges , angry Guha saw it ,And thought “why did this army start? .Is it to wage a war ,Against Rama with a black body who was like the cloud,That had taken out the water from the pearl laden city.
2309. That hunter chief who has valour like God of death,Saw the very huge crowd of Bharata ’s army like dust,With a sarcastic smile and fire coming out of his eyes,Developed a bow like bent eye brows due to anger.
2310. Guha had a huge army with five lakh soldiers each of whomWere like the God of death holding a trident ,who takes away The souls at the end of the worlds for destroying evil was an expert in arrow warfare.
2311. He had a sword tied to his hip, was one who bites lips with teeth,Who talked in a harsh way , who started with his eyes spitting fire,Who had a big drum to beat, who had the horn to announce war ,And had shoulders which go up with happiness thinking of the onset of war.
2312,. “This entire army is of rats and I am the snake “ he said , like ,All the tigers with bent nails who are in this strong world ,Assembling in one place the hunter army was shouting and he summoned them.
2313. Surrounded by that huge hunter army which had come together was similar to ,The rising together of clouds with thunder and the black sea at deluge ,Guha came and appeared at the southern shore of Ganges.
2314. Guha looking at the hunters who have assembled there told,“I have began the war to go to the heroes of heaven by fighting ,With the army of Bharata who have come to prevent ,Rama who is my soul like find getting the huge kingdom ,Please agree to this,”
2315. “Play the war drums , destroy the paths and ghats ,So that they cannot come here and catch all those ,Who manage to reach the southern shore In fast flowing ganges and kill them”, Guha told
2316. ” He who has prevented my soul like lord , who is black in colour ,To get possession of his kingdom by usurping the ruler ship ,Has now come here. Would my fire spitting red arrows ,Fail to hit on them and if they escape from my arrows ,And reach near Rama, then would not the world call be dog like Guha?”
2317. ”Would they be able to cross this deep Ganges with very heavy tide?Would I get scared on seeing their big army and run away showing my back?Does the word “friendship” a word told by Rama a matchless one?, would not people blame me,That It is better that this poor hunter better die rather than getting afraid of this army,”
2318. ”This Bharata perhaps never thought that the Rama was elder to him , nor did he think,That the very strong tiger like Lakshmana is there to help Rama,Even if he did not think about them , not bothering anything about me,For he can wage war with Rama only after crossing my boundary ,Would not the arrows shot by the hunters enter the chest of kings?”
2319. Would not the kings who rule the world not think about the sin,About the bad name they would get after that , about whether ,A person is their enemy or friend , about the crimes that they may commit ,And many other things like that? Let it be like that ,to go for war ,Against Rama who has given his friendship to me,Would only be possible only getting away their soul and army from me?
2320 “. When my friend Rama is doing great penance , Would this Bharata,Rule the world? My soul is not the nectar of devas and would not I,Give it up for Rama and get great fame? It is good that ,I did not accompany Rama and Lakshmana who became happy with me ,For I would repay my duty to him today itself.” Guha told.
2321. ”These people with huge army of elephants and horses,Accompanying them and who wear scented flower garlands ,Can only show their valour after they cross river Ganges .And so worried hunters , stop the rowing of boat ,For them as is it not good that we would lose our souls before Rama?”
2322. ”Possibly for the valorous people like you this army of Bharata is not match?Let it be like that . Even if the devas themselves come , when my ,Black cloud like bow starts showering arrows like rain , the liver of enemies,Would be damaged and would I not kill their well armed army ,And also make their elephant army run helter-skelter.”
2323. “Would I not kill by my arrows the army of Bharata who is the son of Kaikeyi,Who made Rama wear the huge dress of bark on the day ,When he ought to give great charities as prelude of his crowning ,And throw the heap of their corpses in to the river , which will ,Take them all to the ocean so that even the ocean would get filled up.”
2324. “You please get the fame that these hunters have destroyed ,The huge army with flags and gave it to Rama , the upholder of Dharma for ruling,And please see the manner in which these people have come ,Not able to tolerate Rama ruling the forest even though,He had given all the kingdom of his to them to rule.”
2325. My king Rama who has become friendly to many great sages,Who live in the forest, would hate me and get angry with me ,If I fight a war with Bharata, though if their army is of the size of seven oceans,It would be destroyed easily like a small quantity of grass kept before a hungry vow.”
2326. That Guha who held a very huge bow , who had a great shoulders,Due to his taking part in wrestling and who was a great friend of Rama ,An expert in war with sword , after telling this stood before the hunters ,Who had iron like body and seeing him Sumanthra , the expert charioteer ,Went and stood before Bharata who was as strong as a lion and told.
2327-2328. ” This Guha who wears flower garlands from which honey drops,Is the owner of all the lands on both the banks of river Ganges,Is the owner of numberless boats , is a great friend,Of Rama who has taken birth in your clan , is one with high shoulders,Is one who is like a cruel elephant and is the owner of ocean like army of huntersIs one who is as strong as the mountain, is one having matchless love towards Rama ,Is one who has a body of the colour of night and is standing there ,With a desire to see you,Oh Bharata with huge shoulders due to wrestling And one who is black like blue gem and water rich cloud.”
2329. That faultless Bharata who had a very good mind And one who became very easily happy even before, The friend of his father completed his words told,“If he is a close friend of our king and one who has hugged him,Before he went to the forest , even before he comes to see me,I would like to go and see him first “ and started from there.
2330. After saying this he started with his younger brother,And the ebbing joy in his mind , like a mountain moving from somewhere,And approached the northern bank of river Ganges and seeing him ,That chief of hunters with black scented hairs , realized,That the body of Bharata was greatly tired and depressed and was greatly upset.
2331. , When Guha saw Bharata dressed in bark , with a body coated in dust,Looking like a lusterless moon and without a face with joy ,His bow from his hand fell on the earth and getting worried due to sorrow ,He stood there without any activity whatsoever.
2332. He thought “This one also looks very much like my lord ,And the one who stands near to him has very similar looks like Lakshmana.He is wearing a sages garb and it appears there is no end to his sorrow,And he also looks in the direction by which Rama went and is saluting often that side,How can the younger brothers of my lord commit errors towards him? “
2333. Guha told his people “He seems to be one with a new sorrow ,Who has unshakable love, Who is wearing the dress for penance like Rama,And so I would see him directly , understand clearly his mind and then be back”, And then he reached the cool Boat jetty of ganges and came alone in one boat.”
2034. After reaching the other shore , he saluted , Bharata who saluted him,And that Bharata who would even be saluted by Lord Brahma seated on a lotus,Fell on the feet of Guha and saluted him and seeing that , Guha who was ,Famous in the mind and brain of great people , like father with joy hugged Bharata.
2035. That king of hunters who hugged Bharata who had eyes like red lotus flower,Said, “Oh Bharata who has shoulders stronger than a Kanaka tree , what is the,Reason for you coming here?” Bharata replied, “My father who ruled the entire earth,Has slipped from the practice of my ancestors and ,To correct this injustice , I have come here to bring back the real king.”
2036. The king of the hunters heard this and let out a breath which came up,And saluted Bharata by falling on the earth and sobbed due to very great joy,And after locking his hands on the lotus like holy feet of Bharata .Started telling these words with a mind that never tells lie.
2037. ”Oh famous one , When we think that You have come to the forest With a thoughtful face having rejected as evil , the kingdom given by your father ,As per the words of your mother and when we understand your good nature,I am made to ask, “even if there are one thousand Ramas, would they be equal to you?”
2038. ”Oh Bharata , of sterling character and very strong shoulders,How can an ignorant hunter like me praise some one?Like the Sun God has controlled the luster of bunch of his praises and gone up,All the fame of your ancestors which were praised by all kings,Have now been made in to only your fame.”
2339. That Guha who wore decorated heroic anklet and holding,A flesh scented spear and who was the chief of hunters ,After telling several such words , did several hospitable measures,To Bharata who had great love towards him as well as Rama,Because who can be there in this earth who would not love Bharata?And was not the love towards Rama because of his being treasure of all that is good.
2340. That Bharata who was similar to the sea of mercy and whose mind went in the right path,Saluted by his red hands the southern side by which Rama proceeded and asked Guha,“Where did my elder brother stay?” and then Guha who was the king of hunters,Said, “Oh valorous one , please come , I myself would show you that place.”
2341. Bharata went to that place as speedily as a cloud and after seeing,The place in between the stones where grass was spread like bed,Where Rama with long hands and having a great bow lay down,Shivered , fell on earth and entered the sea of sorrow ,And became the one with eyes that bathed that piece of earth, With his stream of tears which were like pearls and said.
2342. ”Even after knowing this suffering came to you because of me,And knowing that you ate roots and fruits here as if you are eating nectar in the palace,And that you slept on this bed where no one can sleep ,I have not left my soul.And not only that it seems I would wear the lustrous gold crown and accept kingship also,.”
2343. That Bharata with tall shoulders further sweetly asked, “If that tall Rama has slept here,Where did his younger brother who loves him and came along with him rest at night?” ,And the king of hunters replied like this.
2344. ,”Oh Bharata whose shoulders have defeated the mountains ,When Rama with a colour of the body which ruled over darkness ,And his lady slept , the valorous Lakshmana with his hands ,Holding the bow as his support , with very hot breath,With eyes shedding tears , till the morning dawned ,Stood without ever closing his eyes.”
2345. Bharata hearing that said, “ I who am born along with Lakshmana as his brother,Though we were similar , became the cause for endless cause of sorrow to him,But Lakshmana stood for wiping it out and stood there to protect him ,He rose without any limit due to his love and I went down worse than a slave.”
2346. Bharata spent that night on the dust in that place and told,“Oh Guha who wears heroic anklets which make the enemies flee,Oh Lord of hunters , at this time if you help us to cross river Ganges,You would be making us climb from the harsh sea of sorrow and would send us to Rama.”
2347. The hunter king said “yes” , reached his people and told them,“Go and bring the boats here “ and then boats with shape of silver mountain,On which Lord Shiva lives ,Some like the golden mountain which he bent for war,And some like the plane of Lord Khubera came there , and possibly ,They took several such shapes because they were ashamed to look similar .
2348. Those boats with the gait of ladies and having capacity to go in water ,And make the swans ashamed due to their nature of bringing .,Those on the other to this shore by climbing and travelling on them,Was like the blessed deeds and sin that would take the people ,Of this world to the world of devas and they occupied ,The entire river Ganges as if there was no other place there.
2349. Guha the king of the Srungibera looking at Bharata told,“Oh Bharata son of Dasaratha having at great bow , countless,Boats have arrived here. What is your intention, please tell me.”And Bharata holding a pretty strong bow seeing Sumantra told,“My father , please ask the army to get in to these speedily.”
2350. Due to order of Bharata , that Sumanthra who was an expert in chariot ,Seeing according to their ranks and as per the system followed by them,Made the elephant , horse , chariot and food soldiers who were countless,Cross the river Ganges with tides with a luster of shining gems.
2351. Those boats with the sound like thunder produced by clashing of clouds,Looking like they have come near to completely dry the water of the ocean,Similar to the time of deluge ands similar to flagged ships with masts travelling in the sea,And like huge elephants swimming with the trunks extended out , crossed the river.
2352. Due to push of cruel elephants coming up and pushing , conches, sharks,And Pearls and the sea waters having ships coming in to it ,The waters of Ganges with a love to see Rama , crossed its own banks.
2353. ,With the tides going near the shore , appeared similar to upper cloth of ladies ,And with the water of rut falling like water fall from the the mountain like elephants Swimming under water with only their heads appearing above it ,Appeared like the breasts of the lady of ganges with long hair.
2354. Huge chariots were separated in to parts like lotus like front part,The chariot floor , wheels , the nails joining them and the two long flagsTied separately on their sides in proper order and along with horses,With uncut main travelled in separate boats like the fate and the body,Traveling separately when any being is dead.
2355. The horses which had white bodies like milk , which looked scared,And agitated and which had long round legs which can help them travel fast ,Along with horses which had decorations like seat and stirrup ,Travelled with the speed of fishes , standing erect on those boats.
2356. The ladies with tender bodies and wearing bangles entering in between each otherWere sitting crowded on the boats one in front of the other With their big breasts touching each other and looked like Big playful elephants standing in a row with trunks touching the one in front.
2357. When the boats carrying the ladies dashed with each other,Those ladies who wear ear globes became jittery and confused ,And when they saw both sides with their very scared eyes,They looked like the scared jumping group of fishes ,Which were pushing them with swift flow of waters.
2358. The boats which normally move in the water ,were being pushed by the oars,By the hunters on both sides , and these moving oars sprinkled water,And those drops of water falling on the thin dress of the ladies ,Wetting their broad hips and made them more visible ,And this removed the sorrow of the heroes with mental strength .
2359. Accepting the sea of the army making great sound on the northern banks ,And after making them reach the southern banks , the empty boats Reaching again on the northern bank were like the clouds ,Which draw all the water from sea , drop it on earth and again return to the sea,.
2360. In the boats , the beams from the chariots which had the peacock feathers ,Smoked by Akil smoke tied and had a decoration like the new leaf on its top Looked like the beams of the mast and the flags which were of the colour ,Of the cloud and having gem studded gold plates were looking like the cloth of the mast, And this made them look like huge boats driven by wind masts in the sea.
2361. That wide ganges looking like the sky with the dropping gems looking,Like the stars and the boats carrying the ladies with lotus like face ,Nectar dripping red mouth and honey dripping hair looked like ,The ascending planes with deva maidens after their sports in water.
2362. With the two big oars which move in the water sprinkling drops of water ,Looking like two legs , With the boat called Nandu (crab) moving in the cold waters,Of Ganges looking like the joyous peacock , the boat looked as if living,When the damsels with fish like eyes touch it with their lustrous lotus like feet.
2363. When people were going travelling in boats , the sages did not travel ,In to the boats built by people of lower status and with the thought of their mind,As their boats they went by the sky . This was possible to them becauseBoth in earth and all other worlds there is no job greater than penance .
2364. The army which was considered as Sixty thousand Akroni ,All the faultless citizens of Ayodhya , the crowd of ladies,Made the Ganges with close tides behind them,
2365. After seeing to it that the army around him has crossed,The river Ganges with whirl pools , Bharata who has won ,Over the desire for earth and thus has subdued ,All the kings who ruled before him , got in to the boat.
2366. Seeing Kausalya who was being saluted by relatives and Devas,Guha looked at her and saluted her and asked Bharata ,“On Bharata who is wearing garland of victory , Who is this?’And Bharata replied, “She is the first ranking queen of Dasaratha whose courtyard,Is filled with kings and she after giving birth to the lord who created Lord Brahma ,Who has created the three worlds but had to give up the wealth of the kingdom,Which was his to me and she had the greatness to do it.”
2367. As soon as Bharata told like this Guha fell at her feet and was crying for a long time,And that creeper like lady who had the sorrow of parting from her calf asked Bharata,“Who is this?” , her son who wore the heroic anklets on his legs said,“This leader who salutes you is a sweet friend Of Raghava and elder ,To me and Lakshmana as well as Shatrugna and has mountain like shoulders and is called Guha.”
2368. Hearing that Kausalya told , “Oh my sons , please do not be sad now on wards ,Did not the coming away of Rama and Lakshmana after giving up the kingdom ,And coming away , give them this great boon. This lad with mountain like shoulders,And who is like a valorous male elephant along with all of you have become five heroesAnd would rule over this broad earth for a long time and protect it.”
2369. Then after seeing Sumithra who was standing like the God of Dharma near by,Guha asked Bharata, “Sir , who is this lady who is full of affection?, please tell.”He said, “She is the younger queen of that king who did never swerve from path of truth,And who died for that and she is the one who gave birth to that one who proves,That Rama has a brother by not at all parting with him and has the greatness due to that.”
2370. Making her husband having gone to the hot cremation ground ,Making her son going to the ocean of sorrow and making the sea of mercy Rama, Going to the cruel forest was she unlike the Lord Vishnu who wore anklets Asking for three steps and then taking a huge form measured all the world ,Just by two steps , just by the cruelty of her mind and Guha asked “Who is this?”
2371. ”She is one created all sorrows , she is the mother who brought up,The child called bad name from the world and to me who lived in her,Useless bad fated belly for a long time , she made the burden of life ,To reduce to me and made all people feel that all the bodies in the world ,Are one without souls But she has a face that does not show sorrow, and ,You should have recognized her from her face but if not , she is my mother.”
2372. Guha heard what Bharata told him but using his good hands ,Saluted her without mercy considering her as his mother and by that time ,The female swan like boat without wings reached the other shore.
2373. With the mothers who got down get in to the palanquin,Bharata walked with the new stream of tears in his eyes ,And Guha did not stop there but went along with him .And they walked with their feet a long distance.
2374. , Bharata approached the heritage of Sage Bharadwaja Who has got rid of the load of Karma, and who was a very great sage ,And seeing that that saint accompanied by Brahmins ,
Who were great knowledge of Vedas came out to receive him.
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About Kavichakravarthy Kamban
Historians place him in the 9th century CE, But surely Kamban belongs to the third great wave of Tamizh literature that started with the Sangam period (dated before the Common Era), followed by the widespread impact of Bhakti literature of the Alwars (vaishnavite saints) & Nayanamars (shaivaite saints). Kamban Authored Ramanaya in Tamil…Known as Kamba Ramayanam..
Kambar has been the milestone for the Tamil scholars that none had reached. He was also known as “Kamba Naatazhvar” at his time. Many Tamil authors from the modern world have written the books on the poet Kamban.
FAQs
Kambar or Kavichakravarthy Kamban (1180–1250) was a medieval Tamil poet and the author of the Ramavataram, popularly known as Kambaramayanam, the Tamil version of the epic Ramayana.
Valmiki Ramayana and Kamba Ramayanam are two versions of Ramayana written in the Sanskrit and Tamil languages respectively. … Kamba Ramayanam is originally called as Ramavataram. Although Valmiki Ramayana is the original version of the story of Rama, Kamba Ramayana is believed to be based on the work by Valmiki.
The Kamba Ramayanam, is a Tamil epic that was written by the Tamil poet Kambar during the 12th century. Based on Valmiki’s Ramayana (which is in Sanskrit), the story describes the life of King Rama of Ayodhya.
The book is divided into six chapters, called Kandam in Tamil. The Kandams are further divided into 123 sections called Padalam (படலம்) in Tamil. These 123 sections contain approximately 12,000 verses of the epic.