By Kambar (Kavichakravarthy Kamban)
Translated in English by P. R Ramachander
Kamba Ramayanam-Bala Kandam 5 (Padalam 15)
15. Kamba Ramayanam-Bala Kandam Padalam 15
The following four chapters further describe the journey of king Dasaratha and his army to Mithila. This is in continuation of the description contained in the two earlier chapters. These four chapters do not refer to Rama or his parents or his story in any way . Here the emperor of poets Kamban , using several astonishing similes and metaphors is trying to describe the people of Ayodhya with special reference to their love life . Those who want to read the story of Rama as written by Kamban can afford to miss reading these four chapters but those who want to know about the poetic genius of Kamban cannot miss it at all.15.Varai kakshi padalamThe chapter on picturesque description.
(This is a pretty description of the people of Dasaratha after they settled down on Chandra Saila mountains. The chapter starts with sun rise and ends with the sun set and dusk.)
843. Looking like all the seas of the world have surrounded the Meru mountain ,Decorated by shining gems , that army spread all around that mountain.Kings, their queens , the princes , the flower branch like princesses,And their relations saw the Chandra saila mountain, which we are going to describe.
844. The he elephants with long tusks would break the spreading branches of Karpaga tree ,Which had its own luster and was surrounded by bees of various types singing Parani pan,Using its palm tree like hands and gave it to the she elephants who are like their soul.
845. The ladies of mountain land with ,red mouth which create great musicWith eyes like blue lily and face like lotus and who know the art of foretelling ,The black bees which do not like the honey from the Vengai tree ,Thinking that the stars are the new honey giving Karapunnai flowers,The bees start to jump towards the stars which are in the sky.
846. The good elephant called moon which lives with the stars which are she elephants,Pierced using its long white horns and honey started flowing torrentially,Making great sound, but the tribals who cultivate red grain of Thinai,Stopped that flow and irrigated using the waters of Akasa Ganga, And grow the mountain rice using this water.
847. ,Since the moon was not able to cross that very tall mountain ,He preferred to stay on its slopes and he being like a looking glass,On both his sides , on one side tribal girls looking at him dressed according to their wish,And the damsels of the sky preferred to do is seeing its other side (possibly it was called “Moon mountain” because of this.)
848. The fire that burns in the black smith’s yard by air pumped by the bellows,The very poisonous water from the mouth and ghee fed spears Are capable of eating away the soul , like the burning spear like eyes of tribal women,And their men brought the crescent of the moon and compared it to the forehead of their ladies.
849.The sweet to look at elephant calves born to very pretty she elephants,Would play with lion cubs which are bred as pets by those tribal men,And the young moon which is capable of bending was found playing with,The babes born to tribal ladies who had crescent shaped foreheads.
850. That mountain made of blue sapphire had the big steps of very angry lion,Which killed the black mountain like elephant whose cheek is wetted by rut water, And also the red painted wet steps of ladies on the heads ,Of the Vidhyadhara kings who had pretty hair on their head.
851. With eyes similar to the red Kayal fishes which extend up to the ears,With their not visible teeth when they smile, With large hair which was not falling down,With eyebrows not arching , with lotus like palms and after stabilizing their musical voice,With playing the strings , when they sing, even Kinnaras would be surprised.
852. When .Ladies with pretty ears , sword like eyes to kill males , wearing honey dripping garland ,Take bath in the clear water standing on crystal stone base , the Kukum they wear ,Is left out and visible in those waters and look like a gem studded cup and toddy.
853. , When the wives of devas with reddish eye due to love tiff,Throw away the flower garlands that they wear on their head Making their men sad those garlands of opened flowers ,Are seen here and there dripping honey and also not fading.
854. The tribal ladies of that mountain with body as soft of new mango leaves,Would decorate the leaf sheath of Betelnut using a garland and compare it with themselves,And the deva maidens wearing pretty ornaments , after removing their gem studded bangles,Which shine like fire wear it on Kanthal flowers and compare with their hands.
855. When the deva maidens whose bow like arched eye brows were not moving,After singing accompanied by playing of Yaazh and also dancing prettily , enter in to a love tiff,And throw out their gem studded garlands , and when the he monkeys which live on the trees,Make their she monkeys wear those garlands they become pleased on seeing them.
856. In those mountain slopes where tall sandal wood trees grow , all the she elephants,Which take red colour due to shine of red stones , the shine of the red Padmaraga gems ,Which look like they are painted with Kumkum paste merging along with,The sun’s rays of the early morn would paint the sky red.
857. The white ganges which falls on the head of the consort of Goddess Uma .Which goes on sprinkling pearls on the earth , looking like ornaments for her ,And which brings measureless gold as well as lots of white pearls ,Making it look like the upper shoulder cloth of God who measured the world.
858. Those tribals living on the mountain wearing Karapunnai and Ilvanga flowers,Drove away the honey bees and went on drinking fresh honey with good perfume,And their love tiff is solved by singing of the Kinnara couple ,Accompanied by the Makara Yaazh and also the horse faced devas.
859. The chest of lads who were similar to the big elephants were hit by her twin breasts,Which were matchless like the flower buds , which had flowered on the flower stem ,Which resembled their thin waists and both of them saw that male bees were playing ,With the female bees on their black heads and it looked like they were getting married.
860. When the ladies with lotus flower like face , which resembled the lustrous full moon,Walked over clear water under the impression that it was a bed made of crystal,The cloth they had tied on their hip as well as their upper cloth got wet,And the lads wearing bangles in their hands as well as anklets clapped and laughed at them.
861.They saw very many beds made of flowers.They saw many golden necklaces which were thrown out,They saw the spit after chewing betel which were red like Indra kopa insects,They also saw many burnt out beds due to Vidhyadhara maids ,Who have left their husbands as well as lost their senses by sleeping there.
862. They saw there the swings used by the Deva maidens ,With their blue lotus eyes swings , with smile appearing on their coral like mouth ,With the costly ornaments worn over their big thick breasts swinging,With honey bees flying around their hair and with the ear globes ,Which were made of gems and gold swinging in the air.
863. Like the men driven away by the prostitutes wearing golden dressWho were willing to sell their hips ,After stealing all the wealth and deciding that it is no use any further ,They saw many empty honey containers left there by the pretty Deva maidens ,After drinking the honey and sugar juice which were left there by honey bees.
864. In the bed room made by the crystal rocks which could make even night in to day ,The Deva maidens who had foreheads fighting with the bow , after being made love,By the devas who had a broad chest which even would defeat the wrestlers,Had thrown away the garlands made of Karpaga flowers ,Because they were creating discomfort during love making and they saw such garlands.
865. There were Ladies there who after seeing the Kanthal flowers which were like the spread out palm,Fearing that it is a serpent with a hood and closing their eyes with their palms,And others who were seeing the shadow of the real flower of on the diamond rock bed,Who saluted their husbands and requested them, “Please pluck it for me.”
866. Pinching the leaf sprouts of Asoka tree by their nails and attaching ,Those pieces prettily on their breasts , picking honeyed flowers,In the mountain where many type of colours are to be seen, ladies bathed,In the streams where it appears that the wandering swans have just entered
867. Similar to the sprout of mangoes appearing in the middle of mountains ,The sides of the mountain which looked like sheets of lustrous gold,And the deer, elephants snakes and bamboo trees ,Karapunna trees which are similar to the shoulders of ladies were there.
868. The wild boars which are black like night due to the slushy mud,Formed by the kumkum thrown out by ladies during love tiff ,Would rub their bodies against the mango and sandalwood trees,And due to the ladies who are like the divine maidens in sweet conversation,Occupying that place , that mountain was looking like heaven.
869.Due to big snakes moving away with great desire for food ,The bamboos are uprooted and this made the wild cows run scared,And due to this dust spreads everywhere and the streams ,Along with large number of pearls making great sounds run there.
870. When the breasts of ladies with lustrous eye of reddish tinge ,Joined with pretty shoulders of men who were like sword like lions,The Akil and sandal paste get applied on their shoulders and they looked pretty,And in those arms which were like mountains sandal, Kumkuma and Kongu trees were there.
871. In that mountain , Banana plants grow in a dense manner ,And they look like the thighs of the divine ladies who come there ,And the ladies there play the Yaazh and sing songs,Similar to the Kinnara ladies of the heaven.
872. The water of rut of the elephants went on flowing in that mountain,And damaged all the mango trees in that big forest, and the Aacha trees,And Bamboos on the paths of that forest were uprooted and was shaking.The animals that go to drink water in the mountain streams were mountain goats and other animals.
873. The black tribal woman who live on those mountains, dig the mountain,For getting beautiful tubers , The tigers live there densely ,And on all sides of the mountain huge drums blare out making huge sound .
874. While the very strong elephants play there in the lakes,The banyan trees which provide cold shade as well as the lotus flowers,Are greatly shaken and damaged , the lions roared ,And the bees lived happily on the hair of Deva maidens, Who stay on those mountain with trees on their side.
875. It is very proper to say that this is the place of Lord Vishnu,On whose chest the Goddess Lakshmi lives as her temple,For on the top of that place dense clouds are there,And in the bottom there would lie heaps and heaps of garlands.
876. Like the bees crowding around flowers from which honey flows,In all the places of that mountain slopes Ladies and men lived,And with no interest to go from there, played sweetly with each other.
877. Those men and ladies who lived on that mountain,Thinking that getting down would cause them sorrow,Never thought about it and became like the good people,Who are enjoying the happiness of heaven ,And could not forget the wealth of that mountain.
878. That mountain with clouds on its top was like an elephant,And the Sun with its hot rays is like a lion pouncing on it,And the red sky was like the blood flow if the lion hurts the elephant.
879. Due the red sun light falling on the branches of very big trees,Most of the leafs of the tree looked like just sprouted ones,And due to the red light spreading all over it , that faultless mountain,Looked like a mountain decorated all over by red gems.
880. Beautified due to the sight which was sweet to the eye ,And due to the number of peaks which were innumerable ,That stainless mountain looked like the great black Vishnu,Who had applied coloured sandal paste on his chest.
881. Those ladies and gents who loved each other like the soul and the body,Like male and female elephants , Like stong lions and lionesses,Like he and she deer , like the honey bee and other small bees,Lived on the bottom of the mountain making great sound.
882. When the Sun God who wanders on the sky riding on his one wheel chariot ,Like the lion with burning and cruel eyes seeking protection from arrows aimed at him,And who has manes on the neck and anger which can kill,Entered on the west side of the mountain , it became very dark,And it spread like the huge crowd of black elephants everywhere.
883. The sea like army of Dasaratha, the king of kings ,Who is surrounded by scent of honey dripping ,From flower garlands that he wears,Went on keeping lighted lamps in that sea like place ,Which booms with sound without any reduction,And it looked like a forest of fully opened red lotus flowers.
884. The moon Which rose from the waves of the sea ,Which sprinkles many water drops, and shines in between the stars,Is like the white conch travelling in between the white sand heaps ,Which has very many white shining gems surrounding it.
885. When the ocean which had the smell of the fishes ,Gave birth to the white coloured moon, not able to tolerate it,That ocean of the army gave rise to innumerable crores,Of moon like lady faces which were like full moons,And which were also like the faces of maids of Deva loka.
886. In all the arenas where dancers perform their art,When beating drums produce sweet sound, ladies who sing also dance,And very many musical instruments also produce pleasing sound,The stringed instruments properly set gave rise to good musical tones,The flute , the holed instrument also accompanied and all this,Made the people of Deva loka very greatly surprised.
887. After removing the lustrous precious necklaces of gems ,And getting a simple pearl chain from the friend, and later ,Dried the forest of their hairs by the smoke of Akil,And throwing out the thin faded jasmine garlands ,They wore the garland of Karumugai which had scented petals.
888. That forest was full of sounds of the Mahouts trying to tame,The caught elephants using tamed elephants , who were ,Singing a song which they had just then composed like,The passionate words spoken by drunken men to their sweet hearts,The sound of bells tied to the hip belt of the prostitutes when they move about,And the sound raised by elephants in rut due to their great pride.
889. That night passed with the men of the army having spent their time,By eating the nectar like food which was not eaten and which was form of art,By making efforts to remove the love tiff of the difficult to get nectar like ladies,And by hearing songs set to music and seeing the dances based on its meaning .
Download PDF (Kamba Ramayanam: Bala Kandam 5 (Padalam 15)
Kamba Ramayanam: Bala Kandam 5 (Padalam 15) – Kamba Ramayanam: Bala Kandam 5 (Padalam 15)
Download PDF: Kamba Ramayanam: Bala Kandam 5 (Padalam 15) in English PDF
Read More :
Kamba Ramayanam: Bala Kandam 5 (Padalam 15)
Kamba Ramayanam: Bala Kandam 5 (Padalam 16)
Kamba Ramayanam: Bala Kandam 5 (Padalam 17)
Kamba Ramayanam: Bala Kandam 5 (Padalam 18)
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.