By Kambar (Kavichakravarthy Kamban)
Translated in English by P. R Ramachander
Kamba Ramayanam-Yudha Kandam 3 (Padalam 10)
10. Ravanan Vanara thanai kaan Padalam
Chapter on Ravana seeing the monkey army.
(Ravana climbs on a tall tower to survey the monkey army.His spies explain to him about who is who in the monkey army. In Valmiki Ramayana there is a chapter of Ravana sending another spy called Sardula to survey the monkey army. There is also a seen in which Ravana shows Sita by illusion a cut head of Rama))
6860. That Ravana who hits and attacks breaking the rope tying him ,And who was like a male elephant , due to his passion towards Lady Sita,Had a matchless shoulder wounded by arrows of God of love ,And he climbed on a spire which was like a mountain with several peaks.
6861. That shoulders of Ravana who was losing his strength by the beauty of Sita ,Who had become thin due to parting with Rama became more taller ,AS soon as it was known that “War has come” and he became so strong ,That he was capable of waging a war himself against the Northern Meru mountain,
6862. On that spire there kalasa made of pure gold was shining like peaks of Meru,And the spire itself was shining like the golden Meru mountain ,Ravana stood on the top of the spire like the serpent Vasuki,Standing on the Meru mountain , to win over the wind god.
6863. On the five elements intertwined with the ten directions ,And on all the worlds that were surrounding this world ,He was spreading the shade of his kingship ,And his regal umbrella shed light on him making everyone surprised.
6864. On the top of tall lustrous long black mountain ,Ravana ’s upper cloth which was similar to the falling stream,In the wing generated by the Cowries slightly moved here and there.
6865. The Urvasi belonging to heaven , the Thilothama who was like Goddess Lakshmi, Who lives In the scented lotus flower , The Menaka with the red mouth ,Rambha belonging to a great family, as well as all the deva maidens,For giving more prettiness to Sita stood very near to Ravana.
6866. Ravana went systematically accompanied by fourteen thousand ladies,Who were born when the ocean of milk was churned and who all had ,Cheeks like the Veezhi(red coloured) fruit and shoulders like bamboo.
6867. He had bent long teeth like the crescent of moon seen from a cave,On both sides of his lips which gave light luster on his ornaments ,And he was like a mountain with cloud which wore ear globes ,And was wearing a garland of blue gems on his shoulders.
6868. Sage Narada with his Veena which can raise sweet music was playing ,The nectar of Sama Veda , and with very knowledgable people were reading ,Great books , but these though entered in to his ears , did not reach his mind ,But came out of his ear itself and his mind was chanting “Sita, Sita”,And his soul was getting eroded with great passion for her.
6869. At that spot there were one hundred crore Asuras who had cruel hands,Who carried sword, spear as well as bow and whose strength ,Would not get reduced even if they happened to fight with Lord Shiva ,And those Asuras were having red eyes due to rising anger and stood on both sides.
6870. There were hundred crores of Asuras ,who with their pretty hands uproot the worlds,Who have been primary citizens of the city of Lanka since it was founded ,And who never do any harm to their king Walking on both sides of Ravana carrying shining bows.
6871. There were among them people who work on earth , people ,Who travel on the sky and they were playing Beri . Murudu with pretty eyes,Small drum and all the instruments that people like , which were ,Like the sound of Rakshasas moving about among water rich clouds.
6872. The maids of the serpent world who had eyes which scare even poison ,The very shy Vidhyadhara ladies whose waist made even the vanchi climber scared,And the deva maidens who talk pretty words with sweet taste ,Sang the sweet Panchama Tune and danced to that tune.
6873. He was surrounded by the fearsome shirt wearing security guards,Who had eyes that spit poison , who were holding the weapon called mace in their hands ,Who had words which made even clouds get scared and fall on the ground,And who had red mouth of the colour of Murukka flowers.
6874. The broad shoulders of Ravana cannot be compared to the eight mountains , Proving there is nothing comparable to them and the scented pastes applied there ,With their perfume mixed in air used to come and tell about his coming in advance just like spies.
6875. There were ten thousand people who were there, who were holding a staff,Who had eyes that looks at others with fire sparks , Who keep on walking without rest,And who knew the tricks of guarding the palace and were guarding Ravana.
6876. On the spire of the gem studded decorated door way of the fort ,Ravana stood like a black cloud pregnant with water and he saw with his pride filled eyes,The personification of four Vedas and lord of those Vedas , Lord Vishnu, And who is Lord Rama who is causal being searched by those Vedas.
6877. Ravana seeing Rama with anger bit his lips and flew in to great rage ,And small fire sparks came out of his eyes and at that time due to his great anger ,A sound like thunder emanated from all directions , his mind burnt,Along with his all his very strong ten shoulders twitched.
6878. Ravana seeing Lord Rama thus became mentally upset and Seethed ,Like the very fast Rahu who goes near and fights with,The very lustrous sun in the sky who was blood red in colour .
6879. ”The very different looking one is definitely Rama as his body itself tells about it,And so leaving out telling about him , please tell the valour ,Of the other commanders “asked Ravana and then Charana told.
6880. Charana pointing to Lakshmana told , “He is Lakshmana ,Who when informed by Soorpanakha that she is your sister ,Took a sword in his pretty hands and cut off ,Her breasts , nose as well as ears.”
6881. ”That Lakshmana does not look at any law which is not Dharmic,He is like the mountain at the horizon which has the black sea in it ,And he flies in great rage which can be called the sleep that cannot be removed.’
6882.: Oh Lord ,He is so blessed that Rama with his hand held his hand in love ,And is Sugreeva , the son of Sun God who fought With Vali,Making this entire world tremble and is famous for his prowess in war.”
6883. ”The one near to Sugreeva is Angadha and is as strong as his father Vali,Who is the one who with his pretty big strong shoulders churned ,Using Mandhara mountain and using Vasugi as rope ,And helped the Devas get nectar from the ocean of milk.”
6884. ,”The one who is walking nearby is the one who followed the Sun God,And is similar to Lord Varaha who picked the world by his bent teeth ,Who had crossed the ocean and came to Lanka and you have already seen him.”
6885. ”This Neela who is standing there is the son of the God of fire ,Though it is clearly known he does not have the strong trident and the rope ,In destroying others , he is termed as the strong Shiva Who swallowed the poison and also God of death.
6886. ”The one who stands there alone in Nala who is like a mountain,And even before the fire of anger cooled down in the mind of Rama ,Because Varuna did not give him the way , He built the bund across the wide sea.”
6867. ”There stands the king of all bears Jambavan who can tell past , present and future,By his wisdom and he was existing from the time when Devas churned the sea and got the poison,And in spite living for so many years , he is capable of uprooting the seven worlds.”
6888. ”Near the commander in chief who is like a dark mountain, stand ,Two people who are like two stable golden mountain , are as strong as ,Rama and Lakshmana in that entire Army and are the sons of Doctors of Devas.”
6889. ”That One in the centre is known as Kumudha. One who stands,Next to him is Kumudaksha,The one on the other side , Gavaksha.The other one is the famous Kesari who is the father of the great wealth Hanuman,Who is said to be Lord Shiva and also Lord Brahma. He is of great prowess.”
6890. That one is Murabha who has lustrous shoulders who has nails , teeth and hands ,Like the Lord Narasimha and who sheds light like lightning and that is Sarabha ,Who wears many great garlands and if he desires he can uproot anything ,And here is the great one called Sathabali.”
6891. There stands Panasa who though he does not have three eyes,Is like Lord Shiva who burnt the three cities, The one who stands,First in the first row of the army is Vrushabha and the one ,Who is opposite to him is Sushena who possesses great knowledge.
6892. Dadhimukha who is standing left of Sugreeva , the son of Sun God ,Is the one who reduced the burden of the back of the earth ,By uprooting many hills with bamboo forests and who is fiercer that fire when angry,And the one there Shankha who is like a lion.”
6893. “Oh great one please hear .Does that army of monkeys ,Has any comparison or limitation in number even if we count,The number of stars in the sky or fishes in the sea,Or the sand in the beach , it is not possible to count them.”
6894. The very strong Ravana then got angry and smiled, looked at that spy,And said, “It looks that you are praising the monkeys who wander about,In small gardens What can the herds of deer who wander about in different ,Forests do to a Lion “ Said he teasingly.
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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.