By Kambar (Kavichakravarthy Kamban)
Translated in English by P. R Ramachander
Kamba Ramayanam-Kishkinda Kandam 5 (Padalam 16)
16. Mahendra Padalam
Chapter on Mahendra mountain.
(Most of the monkeys tell that we would not be able to jump one hundred Yojanas .Angadha says he can go there but cannot return back. Jambavan tells that due to an old he cannot. He tells that Hanuman can do it. Hanuman agrees climbs on Mahendra mountain and ges prepared to jump. In Valmiki Ramayana Jambavan tells the story of Hanuman and why he does not know his own strength . That is not there in Kamba Ramayanam.)
4711. Definitely of the opinion that that king of hawks would not tell a lie,The monkeys told, “Oh monkeys who easily perform all that needs to be done,As clear as the gooseberry in hand , we now know the place where Sita is,And due to him, we also can firmly continue to live and so after thinking ,About the two alternatives properly, we will come to a firm decision.”
4712. “If we go without completing the job and salute Sugreeva,The son of Sun God who loves victory and Rama ,Who holds a lustrous bow , and tell them about the happenings,Our job would some how be completed but clearly finding her out ,Would be a valorous act . Who among us can cross the ocean?”After telling this each of them started telling about their strength.
4713. They said, “We decided to die and also were willing to return back ,With this very bad name which would never get erased and then ,Due to te king of Hawks we have got a better way . Oh monkey warriors ,Who are capable of killing the asuras who are black poison andWho are also capable of showing their valour by crossing the ocean by jumping ,Please do that and protect our lives.”
4714. Neela and other great monkey warriors who had valour to win the war ,Clearly told that they did not have sufficient strength to cross the ocean.The faultless Angadha who was son of Vali who could exhibit valour and victory ,In war said, “I can cross the ocean but I do not have strength to return back.”
4715. Jambavan said, “Oh warriors with strong shoulders , at that time,When Lord Vishnu who cannot be easily found out, who has a matchless form,Took a mega form and measured the earth with one step , I went round ,All the eight directions , played the drum and announced about it and when ,I appeared before him , because Meru mountain blocked my way,I suffered due to very great pain in the legs and became sad.”
4716. ”And because of that I do not have sufficient strength ,To jump and cross this big ocean , climb and cross the fort walls with moat ,Of that great city , do valorous deeds which would make those cruel Asuras shiver ,Search and find out Sita and immediately to return back to this place”And thus Jambavan the son of four headed Brahma completed his talk.
4717. Then the victorious Angadha who was lion among monkeys ,Becoming greatly sad said ,”That it is not proper for us To think “Whom else can we now request to cross the ocean ?”As it does not merit praise and so Hanuman is the only one.Who can establish our fame and who is faultless.”
4718. “Due to his going in front of Rama and created friendship with Sugreeva ,Due to his capability of completing any job he undertakes without getting tired,There is no one like Hanuman amongst us .” said Jambhavan , the son of Brahma , And to inform others the strength of the shoulders of Hanuman suitable for wrestling .He started telling the following words looking at Hanuman
4719. “Even if Lord Brahma who is greatest among all dies, Oh Hanuman,Who still would have an endless life , you have thought over all the arts ,With desire and gained knowledge in them , Oh Hanuman ,Who is an expert conversationalist , who has great fury,Which would make even God of death scared of you ,You are capable of achieving any of the duties undertaken by you ,And who like Lord Shiva who swallowed Halahala poison are capable of destroying any one.”
4720. “You would stand without dying in hot red fire , water as well as wind,You cannot be killed by the very famous divine weapons of different sorts ,If a comparison is needed for you , there is no one except you , who can be,Comparable to you , And just by one jump you are capable of crossing this earth.”
4721. “You have the power of not only analyzing the good but also the bad ,And tell without mistake the truth , you have the capability of judging.Whether a job should be done and also courageously doing it,You are capable of achieving victory over Asuras and also capable ,Of going to Lanka and then coming back and if enemies fight with you there ,You are also capable of killing them and because of that,The strength of your shoulders would never get reduced.”
4722. ”Oh Hanuman who is standing taller than the Meru mountain,Who has the capacity to assume the micro form which can move around ,Between, the rain drops showered by clouds, , Oh valorous one who has,The capacity to completely uproot the entire earth, you have no bad name ,For using great boons in an evil way and you are capable of touching the sun.”
4723. “Oh very intelligent one , after thinking about proper methods ,Without going against Dharma of kings you made Vali,Who was an expert fall and roll down in the ground ,When Indra with fire in his eyes threw the Vajrayudha on you,So that it will drown the body , not even single part your body was damaged.”
4724. ,”Oh Hanuman who has very powerful shoulders , even if all people ,Of the three worlds come to oppose you , you would not bother much about it,Due to the great strength which others do not realize and with the valour that never decreases ,And you have learnt all the Vedas and other books walking backwards in front of the Chariot,Of The Sun who removes the darkness of the earth and other worlds by his rays.”
4725. ”,You follow justice , you are the one who tells the truth ,You have grown up never thinking about the pleasure from ladies In your mind, You have learnt all Vedas along with their meaning ,You have a life span which is larger than the Brahma’s life span ,And you are so great that people say that you are the primeval Lord Brahma.”
4726. ”Oh Hanuman who has great affection to the great Rama and Lakshmana ,Because of that you have well thought out knowledge of what you have told,And you have already decided firmly that the job of searching Sita is yours,There is no harm in doing any work and so please do this job and complete it,As you have decided that the blessed deeds are the only ones which are permanent.”
4727. ”You have the strength of patience to wait , if a particular time is not opportune ,And if war comes , you would become as strong as male lion in great rage .Apart from having the capacity of finishing the job which you have ,Analyzed by your wisdom and taken up , apart from that activity,You would also take care of all the subsidiary activities that arise ,You would stand with stability if a problem comes which would harm your greatness.
4728. “ Indra and others who have won great victories choose to follow,Your patience and good character , by which you have become greatly learned,You have the ability to organize in a sweet manner and you are also, Great strength in penance by which you attain easily any thing you want.”
4729. ”You have the power and strength to cross this sea and return back,So go with speed , and by going there , present us our souls and become famous ,And you also help your lord Rama by bringing news about Sita and make him climb out ,Of that ocean of misery in which he is drowned” saying like this ,Jambavan the son of Brahma encouraged Hanuman to cross the sea.
4730. When Jambavan told like this , Hanuman who is best among the wise ,Who was like the lotus with bent head , who was smiling like an open red lily flower,And who was holding his hands like a closed lotus flower,For making all the assembled monkeys happy , told his opinion like this.
4731. Hanuman told , “even if you want me to uproot the city of Lanka ,And bring it here or if you ask me to destroy all those who fight with me ,Completely and bring Sita who looks like a peacock and wears golden ear globes,I would do what ever you wish me to do, You would see it soon and so do not get worried.”
4732. ”Like Lord Vishnu measuring the world with one step , I would cover ,The hundred yojanas within my one step of my inner feet,And easily cross the very big sea and even if Indra and others ,Come to help those Asuras and fight with me , I would kill,All those bad Asuras who live in Lanka and complete the job , I have undertaken.”
4733. “Even before you start thinking you have the strength to cross the seven oceans,With waves and win victory over all the worlds and would bring back Sita ,And you yourselves are asking me do it , to see my ignorant action,And due to that there is no one who has benefitted more than me.”
4734. ,”Even if the ocean comes to swallow the earth that is surrounded by the sea,And even if the entire universe is broken and rises up high in the sky,Due to your great blessings and order of my Lord Rama becoming,Group of long wings on both sides , I would cross the sea like Garuda. You would see it.”
4735. ”Till I reach Lanka surrounded by the ocean and return back from there ,You please stay here and give leave to me now” saying this Hanuman,With all the monkeys greeting him and wishing good luck,With Devas showering flowers from the sky , climbed ,And reached the top of the very divine Mahendra mountain.
4736. Hanuman who had firmly to perform the matchless deed of crossing the ocean,Just like Lord Vishnu assuming a very huge form to measure the world,Touching the top of the sky , changed his form in to a huge one , known to every one ,And grew up touching the sky and in comparison stood tall,To suit his name as “divine feet “ and stood there seen by all.
4737. That Hanuman who had his shoulders filled with garlands ,Was standing prepared to reach the town of Lanka and return by the time ,The great Sun God with very hot rays who spreads his light all over the world Similar to the spread of the fame of great ones who show their strength in war ,Reaches the western ocean and sets in the evening .
4738. That Hanuman stood there making the very wide Mahendra mountain .Where the male lions with open mouth were living and pressed ,That mountain down which made the several peaks of the mountain ,Which were in a row getting crushed and powdery and tying his own body,With his tail which was looking like a serpent spitting poison,And with all this he looked like the Mandhara mountain standing on the tortoise .
4739. Hanuman stood erect and the clouds with lightning tied his legs,Making sound like heroic anklets , his extremely tall form,Went higher than the limit of the sight of the devas and ,That Mahendra mountain with large number of peaks looked like,The stone base of the golden pillar that supporting the earth.
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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.