By Kambar (Kavichakravarthy Kamban)
Translated in English by P. R Ramachander
Kamba Ramayanam-Kishkinda Kandam 4 (Padalam 12)
12. Naada vita Padalam
The chapter on going away for search
(Sugreeva deputes four teams to the four directions. The team going to the south was lead by Hanuman. Sugreeva gives in detail the path they have to follow and reach the Mahendra mountain which is on the shore of the southern sea. Rama tells in detail , how Hanuman can identify Sita and tells him a few incidents only known to him and Sita. He also fives his ring to Hanuman as a makr of identity. In Valmiki Ramayana , Sugreeva gives directions to all the four teams in great detail. He does not stop with the boundary of the Bharatha country but goes even beyond till earth’s end. The direction to south given by him is slightly different than what in in Kamba Ramayana . For example he does not name the Tamil kingdoms , nor does he mention about Temple at Tirupathi. In Kamba Ramayana he tells them to cross Vindhya and one of the places he asks them to go is Dandaka vana . This is not there in Valmiki Ramayana. He does not describe Sita to Hanuman nor does he tell identifying incidents. The ring he gives in not a’ pretty ring he wears’ but his signet ring with his name inscribed on it.)
4447. “In differing types , in not thinking but obeying And without enemies who can oppose themThis army is standing in rows and spread everywhere ,With nobody capable to stop them and It also does not have any measure of its numbers,”Said Rama and for that Sugreeva replied like this.
4448. ” Greatly wise people after great thought say,”This army has got seventy vellam soldiers.”Except for this estimate, no one can say after doing ,Deep thought that this army has an end point.”
4449. ”For the monkeys in this army the number of victorious chiefs,Are sixty seven crores and these chiefs are under the commander chief Nila Who is having the strength to burn down even god of death.” Said Sugreeva.
4450 . Rama who was holding in his hand the victorious bow looked ,With love at Sugreeva the son of Sun god who has hot rays and said ,“Now what is the use of wasting time by talking various things ?Let us think about how we would work effectively for attaining our goal.”
4441. That Sugreeva then looked at the great Hanuman and told,“Oh chief , in all the three worlds you have the speed of your father ,And capability to enter any where and so why are you delaying ,Are you waiting to see , what the other efficient monkeys are doing?”
4442. “You please go from here and search for the ornamented Sita,In the land of the serpents ,also search in earth and now you should ,Also show us your ability to enter the pleasure land of heaven and search there.”
4453. “ According to what I know .the long palace of Ravana is on the southern side ,And so you go to that direction , win over all the Asuras who are there ,As the one who deserves fame is yourself and not anybody else.”
4454. ”Oh clear headed one , I also vaguely remember that ,Cheating Ravana armed with the sword , who has deceived ,And taken away the creeper like Sita was travelling towards south. Please remember this.”
4455. ,”Angadha the son of Tara , Jambavan and other valorous monkeys,Would come with great recognition along with you and let ,Two Vellam of army also start with you for this search.”
4456. Let Sushena go towards the west , let Sathavali go towards,North which is ruled by Khubera ,Let Vinatha go towards the east ,Which belongs to Indra and all of them would go,Accompanied by a very powerful armies .
4457. “oh leaders who are suitable to wear garlands of victory,You please go with two Vellam army who are used to victory ,Travel and roam everywhere in search of sita ,And return back to this place within another one month,” said Sugreeva.
4458. Then he addressed those who were travelling to south and told.,“You start from here and reach the Vindhya mountain ,Which has thousand pretty shining peaks which would make you ,Suspect that it is the Lord Vishnu himself and make you want to salute him.”
4459. After searching for Sita in Vindhya mountain , you please reach,Narmada river , made bright be several type of gems,Where even devas take bath , where the beees,Sing music called Panchamam , after drinking the honey ,That are in the flowers , which come floating in the river.
4460. From there go to to the mountain called Hema koota ,Where the smoke like black coloured Asuna birds ,Sleep when the deva maidens wearing a pretty waist belt ,With desire were rocking a swing and sing sweetly.
4461. Then you leave with haste that Hemakuta mountain,Along with the monkeys of your group and make to the shore ,Of the lake behind you and go ahead from there ,Then after searching for Sita with cultured habits ,In the black pennai river for a few days and,Go away from there with great speed.
4462. Then slowly cross the Vidharbha country which has ,Scented AAthi and Akil trees and the cool scented sandal trees,As fence and after walking a long distance , you would ,Reach the Dandakaranya which has lot of water resources.
4463. There exists a garden in Dandakaranya called Mundaka thurai ,Where it is told in the olden days sage Agasthya used to live ,.And there if you happen to see sages doing penance in your mind ,It would cause your mental worries to disappear. Please see that.
4464. That Mundaka thurai garden similar to the wealth of charitable people ,Which is enjoyed all people of the world , exists for ever ,And is similar to the cheek of very virtuous ladies , is sweet ,In all seasons unlike the sweet fruits of the season.
4465. The people in that place do not blink the eye properly,Would not sleep well and there is no gate to enter in to it,And it would always give enjoyment like the love play ,With the ladies in bed and it also has lots of water.
4466. After crossing that place reach a mountain called Pandu mountain ,Which touches the moon in the sky , over which even the sun god,With red rays thinks and stays there for a while, before going,
4467. Near that mountain is the broad Godavari river whose old waters ,Which drags with it pearls , collected broken golden plates ,Rathna gems , the churners from courtyards of cowherds ,Trees ,huge rolling stones , animal in her ebbing waters.All those who take bath in that pure sacred water of that river do not go hell called “Puth”. And they do not wander here and there , and it could take you to world of devas ,
4468. After crossing Godavari , you have to go to Kavana river where Subrahmanya Who has six faces , the killer enemies as per request of devas, which is a river of Dharma ,Which is like a river of clear grace , Which is like desirable good habits ,Which is surrounded , gardens having fully opened flowers on both its banks,On all sides and which had shining gems which completely removed darkness.
4469. After crossing Kavana river , you would see the famous Surya kantha mountain, 534Where the stones are released from the sling of the ladies and the big mountain ,That produces great heat and the Chandra kantha mountain .After you cross these mountains , after crossing several countries,You would reach Konkana country where Adhi SEsha lives in hiding, scared of Garuda,And also you would reach the Kulitha country.
4470.Then you would reach the Arundathi mountain which is like a gift ,To those foolish people who argue that Lord Shiva is the best among gods,Or The Lord Vishnu who measured the earth is the best God,Who are all ignorant of religious ethics , to attain salvation ,Which cannot be entered in to , Which is near Akasa Ganga .Which merges the sun and moon in its peaks which touch the sky ,And which gives boons to all those who salute it.
4471. After crossing deserts which scares all beings , rivers , wide streams ,Akil trees, sandalwood trees , mountains which touch the clouds ,And Prosperous countries, if you further proceed in that path,You would reach the emerald mountains where Garuda gave ,Nectar to the Serpents with poisonous mouth for saving his mother,And after saluting that mountain proceed by a path on its side.”
4472. “Then you would reach the Tiru Venkata mountains , which is,The boundary of the southern and northern toungue , which posses,That thing which is the end of all the things that we posses ,Which is the boundary of deep wisdom, , which does not have ,Anything which can be compared to it nearby and which has valleys ,Filled with bee hives all around which is shining like the bodies with fame .
4473. Without doing any action that lead always either to the good or bad Karma ,Equally regarding the wealthy life praised by devas as well as ,The lowly life that makes you wait for the food that is given in charityAnd getting clear understanding that the prime reason for this birth,Is those two types of Karmas were the great saints who live in that mountain,Who can cut off the relation with Karma there itself and who are great enemies ,Of those good and bad Karmas and they merit to be saluted to be saluted from here itself.
4474. That mountain has rivers full of bathing ghats where pure hearted Brahmins,Who have given up cheating live , where saints of great penance ,Who have thorough grasp of the Vedas and Sasthras live in their hermitages ,And which is a place the calves of elephants and tiger cubs sleep soundly .To the music of Deva maidens to the accompaniment of music played,On a musical instrument, Called Kinnara by strumming its sweet wires.
4475. When you reach that big mountain with peaks all your great sins would vanish,And you would reach salvation immediately and so do not go inside but avoid it.After that you would reach the Thondai Nadu which has wealth of water and,Please completely and thoroughly search tha country and then after wards ,Reach the divine and famous river Ponni(Cauvery) , which has great looks ,And search thoroughly on its two banks for Sita.
4476. After crossing The Chozha country where the Cauvery with water ,As clear as the minds of those who attain heaven is situated,You would find a place where sages who have completely forgotten,The sorrows caused by past Karma and you please go speedily by that path,With the knowledge that the people who sleep do not attain any thing but dream,And reach the mountain country which has mountains which shine due to the ,Luster of gems and after searching there go and reach,The Pandya country in the very widely spread Thamizh speaking country.
4477. Then if you reach the south Thamizh Nadu in which there is the podigai mountain,In which the great saint Agasthya is doing penance where the Tamizh Sangam,Is established and where the great sage lives permanently, Salute that mountain ,Go forward and then cross the pretty river Tamravarni and then see ,The great Mahendra mountain with its big valleys where the elephant calves live And from there you would be able to see the southern ocean.
4478. You cross that place and in that place and places beyond search for Sita,For the entire month and then you come back to this place” and then Sugreeva,Ordered them to Take leave from him speedily and proceed ahead.” And at that time,That Rama whose incarnation was the very tall Trivikrama looked at Hanuman,With lot of mercy and said, “Oh expert in books of justice , if you happen to see Sita ,I would describe her form to you so that you would be able to recognize her”And then Rama took away Hanuman to a private place and then explained.
4479. ,Rama addressing Hanuman told, “Oh Hanuman, , the pretty fingers of the red feet,Of Sita would resemble the coral pieces of the milky ocean anointed in red cotton juice ,And attaching the crescents of moon at their top and they are properly formed ,And the lotus flowers and other things used in the world which are used in comparison,Would not be proper comparison for them and apart from that,Which other things in this world are suitable comparison to those pair of feet.
4480. , “Oh Hanuman, The tortoise which has been used by all the great poets ,Using their intelligence for comparison with the upper part of the ladies feet wearing lot of bangles, And apart from that also mentioned some other things , to Sita who speaks in a lisping voice,Similar to the music of Kurinchi Yaazh which is played at night , they are not suitable ,And you please understand this aspect with great clarity.
4481. “The tender heels of the innocent Sita who has a pretty hair which is,Difficult to portray by artists ,Though guessed truly , by the great poets ,Who quote in comparison for varal fish which is in the family way ,And the quiver, the paddy crop in yielding , if repeated by me, what pleasure would I get.”
4482. “The boundary for the comparison of the thighs of ladies with long hair,As Banana has been won by the thighs of Sita , Can we mention any other comparison?You please think whether the Yazh with its strings, the honey with taste of nectar ,And the cane juice from cane grown in well watered fields Would be a better suitable comparison for her thighs.”
4483. ”Oh best one, Sita has a pot and Cakravaka bird like breasts tied by cloth ,And who has a waist like the Vanchi creeper and her ocean like hips,Which are next to waist belts cannot be compared to the hood of Adhisesha,Who carries the world and the chariot plate of Sun who destroys the fog And in this I do not think there is any need to tell you further.”
4484. If you want to hear comparison of the thin waist of Sita seeingWhom Lord Brahma can create any pretty lady, it is not possible,For by using our organ of eye it would not be possible to do it ,As it cannot be seen by the eye but only can be felt by my hands,It is not possible to say it exists by any other means.
4485. ” If we see generally the belly of a lady would be like a banyan leaf , or very thin drawing board or very soft , silver plate which is white like milk or round shaped mirror or similar things , If we tell like this , it would be fib or an unimaginative lie, for if we say Sita ’s belly ,Looks like a banyan leaf , it is not at all suitable for this is the nature of her form.”
4486. ”Oh Hanuman whose knowledge is more wider than the sea , if we see that ,The belly button of Sita is similar to the Koothali plant which has not shrunk orNandiyar Vattai flowers among the round flowers which have pretty holes ,They are highly inappropriate but in general terms, I had earlier believed that, The whirl pools of Ganges would be similar to her belly button and ,So imagine the river Ganges in your mind while searching for her.”
4487 . ”On the belly of the creeper plant like Sita there is a hair formation ,And that is the flow of my soul and so we have to mention a comparison to it ,Which would be agreeable to all, please understand it is like the supporting branch,To the faultless thin waist which is spreading so that ,Its tiredness would go away and holds it firmly to it.”
4488. Sita who is Goddess Lakshmi who left lotus flower feeling that,Its inner petals will hurt her , on her pretty belly there are three golden colour folds,And they are the victory sign left by the god of love, who is an archer that all the ladies .Of all the worlds have been defeated by her beauty.
4489. ”I will tell that her breasts are a box made of gems , or a golden pot .I would think it is a red tender coconut and would say it is a dice made out of corals,It is the tusks of an elephant , and without missing they are chakravaka birds,Which have come out in day time and since I do not know any comparison ,In this world to them , I would be sorry that I could not find a suitable one.”
4490. ”When I see the sugar cane or row of bamboo plants , from my eyes tears ,Would run like rain water and I would be sad, except that do I know ,A proper comparison to her shoulders ? Since I do not have a steel like mind ,To find a comparison the shoulders of Sita and wears flower garland ,Around which bees hover and hum , When can I tell that comparison?”
4491. ”Saying that , In all the worlds one thing is similar to the forearm of Sita ,Is wrong .Even if we tell a comparison telling that her forearm is like Kanthal flower ,Is very cruel. Telling it is like Makara Yaazh it would bring to our memory some other thing ,For how can Kanthal flower and Makara Yaazh be like her great forearm.To a beautiful thing, is there something more beautiful than that.”
4492. “If the young leaves of the Asoka tree with great perfume on one side,The newly formed pretty , newly leaves of the very desirable Karpaga tree ,And the flowers with thin petal which flower on the lotus creeper are ,Not sufficient comparison to the pretty legs with sound of anklets ,Of Sita who has very thin waist and how can they be compared to her hands.”
4493. ,”Sita who was like a young pretty flowering branch with white teeth and red mouth ,And lustrous ornaments had a pretty sharp nails and is it possible for people like us to tell clearly ,Without confusion a comparison for that ?The parrots said to the Murungai flowers ,“You are finding fault with us as being not comparable to the nails of Sita “And became angry with them and if they tear those flowers off ,Thinking that they are the mouth of the ladies who find fault with them,And can those nose of those parrots be compared to beak of parrots.”
4494. “Oh suitable one , Like you think of the lotus flower on seeing her pretty hands and feet,And if you see the neck of Sita who has divine eyes which are like the sword , you would be ,Reminded of the growing betel nut tree and the conches which are born in the sea,And if you think that they are good comparison to her neck , Get assured,That they are comparison to betel nut tree and conch.”
4495. “The pretty mouth of Sita who has black eyes like the black lily flowers,Cannot be compared to Corals . red Netti , Red Kovvai fruit . new red lily flowers ,The flower of Ilava tree which has not faded, the Indrakopa beetle and flower of Murungai tree,Because it is deep red but looks more like white and it is filled with honey,And that which can be compared to that mouth is itself.”
4496. “There is no nectar which is red and there is no honey which is red,And even if they are perhaps there, they give sweetness ,Only when they are eaten and not when they are thought about,But if we try to tell comparison to the coral like mouth of Sita who has a lustrous forehead ,During the time when we are joyous and according to the liking of the mind ,There seems to be no things in this world which can be compared to it.”
4497. ”Oh learned one , At that time when I told that the teeth of Sita are like,Jasmine buds , the bottom of peacock feathers and pearls , I would feel like telling,About her words as those comparable to the nectar , milk as well as honey,But except for saying that there is no comparison to her teeth ,Is there any comparison available for nectar of devas and if you are capable ,You can understand about the nature of the teeth of Sita , without thinking about comparisons.”
4498. ”Oh Hanuman who can see the future, If her nose is similar to gingelly flower,Or the Kumizham flower with hole , those things do not have luster like that of,Shining gold, shining gems and there is nothing with those things that cause that luster,You can yourselves guess about the prettiness of that nose ,Which is impossible to be drawn as a picture by great artists.”
4499. ” The comparison to the ears of ladies told by young boys are the leaves ,Of Vallai creeper , scissors and the pretty hair cutting tool and if these are told,By wise and great men as comparison to the ears of Sita , it is an act of lunacy .With a thought that the silver studs that she wears have done great penance ,To reach her ears , we should also think that it is not possible ,To get a propped thing of comparison to all things in the world.”
4500. “Her lustrous broad eyes which are having the black colour of Lord Vishnu,As well as white colour but even if we see it a thousand times,We can say it is broader than the broadest ocean but we will ,Not get any suitable comparison to it , even if we think very deeply ,.As it is not something that can get limited in to one ‘s mind .”
4501. If we seek a comparison to the eye brows of Sita who has sword sharp eyes,One eye brow can become comparison to other and any other thing would be just a comparison.Generally if we take any thing that is normally mentioned as comparison to eye brows ,And mention it as comparison to eye brows of Sita , we can tell but it would not be a proper one.If we can compare it with the bow of God of love , since there are no two such bows, it is not suitable.
4502. “The white crescent of the moon that appears during the initial day of waxing period,After seeing the beauty of the forehead of Sita who has tender foot which makes the lotus flowers ,Of day time gets ashamed, became shy and thinking about it for several days ,And being called “Mathi(brain)” thought that on that if could remain a crescent ,Without becoming the full moon , it could perhaps be compared to her forehead.”
4503. ” After we came to the forest , there were none to decorate her locks of hair,Which fall on her forehead and in spite of that , even when she had not made up her hair,There was no diminishing of beauty to that hair and that locks of hair ,Even left as it was created by Lord Brahma was always new looking,Over her blue gem like forehead and there is no comparison for it.”
4504. “The Black coloured cloud’ s centre , Red lily flowers , bent bows , the victorious kendai fishes,The lustrous gems added to the moon was as the face of Sita by Lord Brahma himself ,And when you see her lotus face from near , please clearly think And understand whether they are there”
4505. ”Those hairs if Sita which was made by single ones to a large group was thick and perfumed,And it appeared as if it was made by cutting a piece of black cloud , anointing it with honey,Then smoked it with Akil smoke , make it further black by applying darkness of night ,And tie it step by step and make it hang as a pleat and then it appears to keep heavy weight on her.”
4506”. Even for the divine lotus there is the fault of it possessing the outer covering ,Even for the upper edge of beauty , the moon , there is a fault of the black form,And even for all the best things , there would definitely be little fault within it ,But for Sita who walks like the swan , there is only perfection but no fault.”
4507. ”Oh sir , if we do proper thinking , the perfection of women’s beauty ,Is not there even with goddess Lakshmi , who lives on pretty scented lotus flower,But to the koel like Sita who has black eyes like Kayal fishes , red mouth , pretty breasts,Which would make even Devas salute her , there is no deviation ,From the perfection of beauty for ladies and you can recognize her by that.”
4508. ”That Lord who sits on the lotus flower created the musical flute .The Yaazh , koel , parrot , baby lisp and all that can be compared to sweet voice ,With his well experienced ability and made them as sweetness in voice ,To Sita who has a a very thin waist but did not create any other thing,That stands comparison to that faultless sweet voice. Would he do it in future?”
4509. Though the three worlds with heaven are spread without boundaries ,Except the very great nectar which gives great taste when kept on the toungue ,There is no other thing which can be termed as good and if we want to tell ,A comparison to the soft words of Sita who has fish like eyes,We can either say honey or nectar but both are sweet to the toungue not to the ears.
4510. ”Oh best among people with good character , the swan with a lisping voice ,Which lives on the lotus flower , the pretty female elephant which walks prettily,Even making the devas get astonished but I would not consider them,As good comparison to the walk of Sita and she has a gait like the ,The progress of the epics containing rare words written,By ancient great poets who were experts in writing verse.”
4511. ”,Her colour is like the changing shade of the young mango leaves and even,Golden colour would become black before her beauty and even the colour of gems ,Are not proper comparison to her colour and the colour of lightning would become shy ,On seeing her and will not come out and would vanish not to be seen any where.Even the colour of lotus would become shy before her and what other colour shall I say ,And If truth is to be told only her colour compares well with her colour.”
4512. , “Oh well behaved one ,Keeping in your mind the firm belief that, There are no ladies who are comparable to Sita , examine her clearly ,And then go near her lustrous full moon like face ,And then tell those identity incidents which I am going tell you to her “ again he told.
4513. “Please tell her the incident , when I entered the ancient and prosperous city of Mithila ,Along with sage Viswamithra for witnessing the Yaga of king Janaka who wears ,Long flower garland on his hair , on the terrace of the maids quarters near,The pond where the swans play , I happened to see her. Please remind her abut this.”
4514. ,”Sita whose chastity is like the ocean where a boundary cannot be made had thoughtfully said,“”if the one who has come with the divine sage Viswamithra has not broken the mountain like ,Bow of lord Shiva , I would give up my life.” You please tell all such news in detail to her.”
4515. ”Please remind her how I saw her in the council of the great king Janaka ,Having pretty mountain like breasts which resembled the two tusks ,Of the Elephant in rut wearing the ornamental mask and a thin waist ,Which was breaking due to the heavy weight of the breasts ,And who came like the matchless streaks of lightning in the sky.”
4516. ”Oh innocent Sita , do you think that you would walk following me ,In the burnt forest which I have not seen before , inspite of your,Being one who gave joy to me and would you now cause sorrow to me “I asked like this to Sita , Please remind her about it.”
4517. ”Oh Lord who is leaving the king dom that is yours and who is going to forest,Does it mean every thing except me will now give joy to you ?” saying harshly like this,Sita shed tears from her eyes which move like fishes and which are like big lotus flowers andWas not able to stand properly and became greatly famished and depressed. Tell this to her.”
4518. ”On the day when we left the prosperous city of Ayodhya ,In front of the big wall made of stones that tough the sky Before we just crossed the pretty doors of the city .Sita asked, “which is the boundary less cruel forest?”’Please tell her all these so that she understands.”
4519. Rama after telling al these identifying incidents told him,“Have a sweet journey.” And then gave him a very good ring,On which the best of gems were embedded and told.“Oh wise one , let all your job be completed without road blocks”And as soon as he bid him farewell , Hanuman wearingLong heroic anklets along with the grace of Rama went ahead.
4520. Then the hero Angadha , the very strong Jambavan with a killing rage , Saluted Sugreeva the son of sun god by their head and later salutingRama and Lakshmana who were expert archers along.With huge ocean like army , went towards the southern direction.
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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.