By Kambar (Kavichakravarthy Kamban)
Translated in English by P. R Ramachander
Kamba Ramayanam – Bala Kandam 4 (Padalam 11)
This portion starts with the introduction of Rama and Lakshmana along with their family particulars by sage Viswamithra to king Janaka and ends with the departure of Dasaratha along with his people to attend the marriage of Rama.
11. Kula Murai kilathu Padalam (The chapter on narration about the family of Rama.)
(in this chapter sage Viswamithra introduces Rama to king Janaka along with particulars of his clan. He also tells him how Rama and Lakshmana killed Thadaga , protected his fire sacrifice and later brought back Ahalya to life. SAge Viswamithra does not mention about the names of the ancestors of Rama but only their well known deeds, In Valmiki Ramayana , the family of Rama is introduced to king Janaka by sage Vasishta , when he comes to attend the marriage of Rama. He lists out the names of his ancestors. )
637. Who in this world does not Manu who is the first in the clan of the Sun?Even the great king who for the sake of avoiding the sorrow of all beings from hunger,Who did the great deed of using his well formed bow milked the earth , also belongs to his clan. (king Prathu)
638. Oh king Janaka in whose crown all the nine types of gems are well set,The one who for the sake of destroying sickness and removing evil acts which cause it,Did penance for several years addressed to Brahma who was born out of a lotus,And due to his blessing brought the statue of the lustrous Lord Vishnu,Sleeping on the bed of the great snake , so that people like me can see him ,Along with the stage(rangam) * also is from his clan and,Those who do not know it do not know anything. *(This lord was shifted to Sri Rangam table later /not mentioned by Vamiki) )
639. When Indra begged him and told him about his great problem of ,An asura whom he is not able to defeat and requested to kill all those asuras.And reconquer the land of devas and give it to him , agreeing to that,And after giving him a boon , and immediately went there ,Holding a great bow and fought with those asuras is the king ,Puranjaya who was carried by Indra taking a form a form of the bull,Again belongs to his great clan and he was known as Kakustha,
640. I am incapable of telling the greatness of all kings Belonging to that great king’s clan,For one of the kings of the clan helped in churning the ocean of milk Using Mandra mountain and gave nectar,So that the devas do not get old, their body does not age and also they do not die.
641. Oh king , who puts his spear in the spear sheath after doing war,The ancestors of these two sent their shining wheel of rule without any blocks,Were ruling all the three worlds , Who had unimaginable qualities like mercy And were innumerable in number and one of them ruled the world,In such a way that male tigers and female deer were drinking water from same ghat.
642. Oh King whose feet are saluted by very many victorious kings ,Once upon a time when devas and Rakshasas were engaged in a battle,One of their ancestors , who was crowned as per the tenets of Vedas ,Along with his gem studded crown garlands shinning swords and hand held bows and arrows,Alone wandered like the God of Dharma in to the land of devas and protected Amarapathi.(capital of devas)
643. Oh king who holds a long spear which is like streak of lightning , Who can afford to praise The kings of these clan who wore the golden anklet of great valour,Were the soul for all the good souls of the world , ruled this great world,For one of the kings of clan gave his flesh , to save the soul of a soft soul.
644. Oh king who has a long spear that has pierced the body of his enemies,The kings of their clan sorrowing because the Aswamedha horse was missing ,Rolled with their feet huge mountains like they were coconuts and made this world,In to , ups and downs and dug the sea which was full of salt water .Is it necessary to add any more to bring out the greatness of this clan.
645. ”Oh king with a lustrous spear to which the flesh of enemies are attached,If Adhisesha would be unable to describe their greatness , is it easy for me to do it?The one who brought the river with holy water making it flow through ,The head of Lord Shiva who wears Ixora flowers to the earth also is from their clan.
646. Oh king who has a royal white umbrella similar to moon without rabbit patch,One of the kings born in their clan , made the entire earth surrounded by the sea,Like a gooseberry of his hand and conducted hundred incomparable Aswamedhas,According to Vedic rules and created problem for the great king of Devas.
647. The clan of these boys , had a king who defeated the moon God,Another who defeated Rudra , another with harsh arrows killed Dundhu,And another king of the clan called Ragu with his very firm bow,Won over Indra and defeated all the kings of the eight directions.
648. The King Aja who belonged to their clan using his Mandara like bow,Churned the ocean of his army and made Indumathi who had a smile,Which was like pearls and who was like Goddess Lakshmi ,An ornament to his chest which was black like that of God Vishnu .As also his big shoulders which appeared as personification of wrestling.
649. ”Oh king who has a door of his palace where several music instruments played ,There is no body in this world who do not know Dasaratha the son of king Aja.These greatness of sons who were born to him cannot be properly described by Lord Brahma,Still I would try to narrate it to you , the limited knowledge that I have.
650. The Dasaratha who is like the wheel of God Vishnu using which ,He made people of all the world live properly , like victory of Sun over snow,Won victory over his enemies , Who never liked the help of any others,Who wore Dharma as his armour and who was the follower of rules of Justice,Formulated by the great Manu , was sad because he did not have sons.
651. He decided to see the help of Rishya Sringa Who followed ,The prostitutes with forehead like a bent bow , Red mouth like that of,The child which resembled a red fruit , long black eye, large hips,Which are sold for money and waist which is like a streak of lightning,Thinking they are animals with their breasts as horns and reached,The town of Roma pada and helped him to solve his problem.
652. After saluting he told the sage “ Possibly due to lack of my penance ,Sons who wear garland and have a scented hair ,were,Not conceived in the gem like belly of my queens ,Who were tying their breasts by cloth and so ,Please get me sons who will look afterThe earth surrounded by the sea , which was protected by me.”
653. Hearing that , that sage with mind filled with joy told ,“I would give you young boys who would not only rule this earth,But also look after all the three worlds .So now make ,Arrangement to bring all materials to conduct a fire sacrifice,In which the offerings we give are eaten by the devas.”
654. Accordingly the king speedily arranged to assemble.All the things that were needed to conduct a Yaga for getting sons.That one who does great penance completed that Yaga.From that sacrificial fire the king of group of ghosts,Emerged carrying nectar like white sweet rice,Kept on a golden plate which was studded with gems.
655. That sage who had understood the meaning of Vedas,Gave the nectar like sweet food kept in a vessel of gold To Dasaratha who was equal to him in good character ,Who made in to four parts and gave it to his three queens,All of whom had pretty foreheads , according to their seniority.
656. The queen called Kausalya gave birth to this sea of black,Who had red mouth , wearing big bangles and prettiness which cannot be painted,Who was born to destroy the evils that have spread all over the world,And to protect the limitless Dharmas mentioned in the great Vedas.
657. The daughter of the king of Kekaya gave birth to Bharatha,Who had unsullied character ,prettiness and nature of charity,Who was like a sea which can be mentioned as a great pit,In Which the waters of unstoppable great rivers enter,And who was very similar to this great one sitting here .
658. The third queen who was junior to these two queens gave birth to,To two children who had great strength , who scared the very strong,Rakshasas who were bent upon spoiling Dharma,And who when they are armed with a bow , looked like ,The red golden mountain Meru and silvery tall mountain Kailasa facing each other.
659. Those four sons who were like the four Vedas, were greater than,Goddess Saraswathi in the great and mature knowledge,Who were served like defeated kings by the Dhanurveda , the science of archery Grew up like the sea with tides at the break of the rise,Of the greatly lustrous full moon which was round in shape.
660. Oh king who has a very long spear which is kept in its case,Dasaratha who was saluted by kings who brought tributes to these sons,Whose feet was decorated by the dense anklets of a great hero,And who was having the nature of great patience ,Put the sacred threads for them and made them study Vedas,By sage Vasishta who was really the one who brought them up.
661. With a desire of getting killed the Rakshasas , who speedily,Created problems for carrying out my fire sacrifices , by them,I brought these sons of Dasaratha who were wearing heroic anklets,Which were as soft as a flower and entered the forest,And even before we entered the forest A Rakshasi called Thadaga,Who cannot be opposed by others made her appearance .
662. Oh king This masculine Rama who has the form of black waves of the sea,Has a very tall grown shoulders , and so please examine his strength carefully,One of the arrows pierced the chest of Thadaga who has eyes like raging fire,And later pierced a mountain and several trees and also the earth.
663. The heads of Rakshasas having fire like hair which has the colour of the reddish skyWent on falling endlessly making a huge mountain and there ,One of the sons of the Rakshasi went to heaven as soon as he was hit by Rama’s arrow,And the place where the other son was thrown is not known to me,And after completing my fire sacrifice in a complete manner , I came here.
664. Oh king, Please understand the greatness of Rama which even Brahma does not know ,I who presented him due to the great penance that I did,Great weapons which are capable of burning all the worlds, sea and mountains And am shivering before him and standing here obeying his orders.
665. He is the one who gave the former form to the wife of the wife of Gowthama ,By using the dust of his feet wearing golden anklet and which is like unfading lotus flower,And I have more love towards this Rama of back colour , even more than my soul,And he concluded, “ This is an account about Rama and the great strength of his shoulders.
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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.