By Kambar (Kavichakravarthy Kamban)
Translated in English by P. R Ramachander
Kamba Ramayanam-Yudha Kandam 3 (Padalam 7)
7. Sethu Bandhana Padalam
Chapter on constructing the bund.
(This chapter describes how the Sethu (Bund/Bridge) to cross to Lanka was built under supervision of Nala and how Rama and his great army matches in to Lanka)
6675. Sugreeva the king of monkeys along with Vibheeshana the brother of Rakshasa king,Along with several wise ones like Jambhavan, Hanuman and Angadha thought it over ,And decided that to do all that needs to be done in a proper way ,The best person would be Nala and summoned him there.
6676. The monkey architect Nala came there and addressing Sugreeva said,“Oh king , why did you summon me?” and Sugreeva told him,”It is now our job,To build a bund across the ocean with springing waves” and that faultless one,Agreed to start the job of building the bund immediately.
6677 . ”Oh dear son of Surya “If the job is to build a dam across the ocean,I would build it in such a way that , that it would not have any difference with Meru mountain,And it would be greatly pretty. Please order others to bring materials to build the dam.”
6678. Jambavan summoned all those except Rama, his younger brother Lakshmana,Vibheeshana , the king of Lanka and Sugreeva the king of limitless Monkeys, and told them,“All of you please come to build a dam across the ,Black sea which surrounds Lanka “ and he called all others.
6679. Then the monkey army came carrying the limitless ,Number of black mountains which were spread for a very long distance ,One each in their two hands , two on their shoulders and one on their head,And their coming appeared as if the other six oceans were coming there.
6680. Some were bringing mountains rolling them by their feet,Carrying one mountain in between their hands and some ,Were dragging by their tail a huge sky touching mountains,Over which black rainy clouds were going round and round.
6681. That faultless architect called Nala , drove about ,The monkeys requesting to bring more mountains ,And even if three crores monkeys gave them the mountains ,He received them by a single hand and arranged them,And Thus by showing his great strength made the ocean tremble.
6682. When the big monkeys brought tall mountains , which touched the clouds , And threw them to him , Nala due to his learning caught hold of them alone,Like the The philanthropist Chadayan of Vennainallur,Protected those people who surrendered to him.
6683. When the victorious chiefs of the big monkey army uprooted,Mountains on which the moon with stain like a rabbit moved around ,The crowds of clouds made great sound and started flying away,And the Yakshas and their ladies on the mountain went away from it.
6684. Due the huge mountains being uprooted by the monkey chiefs ,Falling over one another , sparks came out of the water of the ocean,And seeing this king Varuna got startled by not knowing who set fire to water?
6685. One chief of monkeys called Gavayaksha brought in his palm ,Threw a mountain destroying the forests at the ocean,All the pearls which were starry white fell down in the sea,And they appeared similar to the stars in the sky.
6686. Due to monkey warriors throwing mountains with elephants in them,Those pearls which have already reached the sky earlier ,Attaching themselves to them they appeared like the sky ,Wearing the clouds as dress and with big sun in it .
6687. Due to monkey warriors throwing mountain with bamboo forests ,In to the ocean due to the water drops that rose up ,And made wet the wide hips with hip belts,Of the ladies of heaven and they became extremely shy.
6688. Due to huge honey dripping mountain being thrown ,At the huge black sea with lots of ties , the mountains ,That stacked the water was splashed up from the ocean water ,And fell in the heavens and it appeared as if rain was falling in heavens also.
6689. Due to the monkeys throwing mountains encircled by clouds,The elephants in rut which fell in to the sea, when caught by Crocodiles,With cruel mouth wailed loudly and were similar to the elephant,Which shouted, “Oh primeval one ,please save” , when caught by the crocodile.
6690. Due to the expelled honey , Sandalwood, Akil and other perfumed articles,Spreading the good scent all over the ocean and increasing greatly ,That sea which was smelling of meat , started giving out sweet smell,Like the water in pot with mixed scented things.
6691. Due to monkeys throwing sweet fruits , eatable vegetables ,Meat with honey , divine flowers that are liked by Gods and ,Similar things in to the ocean the fishes were happy and shining.And those sky reaching mountains with mango and other good fruit trees Fell in the sea proving that the well cultured charitable people ,Though they lose all their wealth would not lose their charitable nature.
6692. Those row of huge mountains which got fixed in the soil at bottom of the sea,Attracted the fishes which wanted to eat the flowers with honey , vegetables and fruits ,But did not get anything from there and thus resembled ,The misers who keep on accumulating wealth without parting it from them.
6693. Those hoards of monkeys which were rotating like kites , when ,They uprooted the mountains and threw them at the very huge ocean ,The huge pythons that lived on the top of the mountains ,Were trying to digest the elephants whom they had earlier swallowed,Like the ignorant people not getting bothered by any calamity.
6694. The whales that live in the sea and the elephants in rut ,With teeth which were shining like an ornament similar to lightning ,Combining their trunks with holes with each other ,Were seen fighting before the mountain like clouds at deluge.
6695. ,Due to the mountains brought and stacked by the monkeys ,Falling one over the other, fire sparks were produced and due to that,Pieces of their peak were thrown out reached the heavens ,And not able to stand there with stability , fell down like ,Those who do few blessed deeds reaching heaven and falling down.
6696. Attacked by the big sharks with very sharp teeth , lions,Who were experts in fighting , the cruel tigers and male Yalis ,Got killed in the water proving that , if we think properly ,People who leave their place though they are strong there ,Would definitely get defeated when they reach strange places .
6697. After drinking the honey from the hanging bee hives ,From the mountains thrown by the monkeys , all the fishes of the sea ,Jumped like monkeys and this is like charitable people,Consciously not helping others but their wealth ,Becoming useful to all beings of the earth.
6698. Due to the speedy throw of mountains carried by monkeys on the sea ,Similar to toddy flowing from goblets , the bamboos from the mountains ,Showering cold water showered pearls and this along with,The pearls showered by Ippi fishes from their mouth and ,Pearls showered by the right whorled conches , appeared as if a feast has been arranged.
6699. Due to stacking of The huge mountains touching the sky, Done with great pain by the monkey warriors after uprooting them,The ocean became just like land and due to,Entering of ocean water the land around turned in to a sea.
6700. Due to the cruel lions, Yaalis and tigers and also all the products,Of the forest from the closely kept mountains being in plenty,Beach land was looking like regions with hills and mountains .If the Great God who is the lord of all desires would not one become the other?
6701. Due to the mountains being thrown in the sea, the deer on those mountains ,Felt that fishes in the sea are not proper for them to eat and did not eat them,What can the animals from the mountain do but to the fishes in the sea ,Which normally eat those animals did not bother and ate them.
6702. The animals on the mountain thinking that” if some one catches ,Those who brought them up , cultured people would not ,Go away from them instead of getting out of grace ,And so we would not go away from this place”.And decided to stay on the mountain even if it was thrown on the sea.
6703. The sages without any attachment thought ,“This mountain gives us sweet fruits ,Big ripe vegetables and is a place where We can do ,Sweet penance in a comfortable manner “And they also thought about end of the Asuras ,But became very angry on the monkeys who uprooted the mountains.
6704. The cruel Asuras who do sinful acts and who live on the mountains,Kept their hands on their heads saying , that they have lost the mountain,And also felt that they did not have a stable place to live and reached Lanka.
6705.The crowds of Lions and Yalis which do not sink in sea water ,And which also cannot move inside that water were there with great density ,And were standing in a row on both sides of that faultless bund.
6706. There were many monkeys who were bringing huge mountains ,Not knowing that once monkeys have put crystal mountains in the sea ,And it was lying there , and thinking a need for a mountain to fill up the gap.
6707. When the powerful monkeys stacked the mountains ,Giving great pain to the black of Goddess earth ,The huge snakes came out from the caves and were seen hanging,Make the one who sees conclude that the mountain also has roots.
6708. Next to the red shining Manikhya gem mountains some dark mountains,Which are blue had been stacked and it looked like , Rama who is of the colour of the cloud,Thinking that Varuna is bare necked because of his offering his Garland ,To himself , gave a multi coloured garland to Varuna.
6709. Like the experts in Yoga whose soul leaves their body andAttains a more suitable body for them , the pythons,Jumped in to the sea when the monkeys threw the mountains,And searched and found out their caves and entered in to them.
6710. What is the need to find out some thing to say in Comparison,To that great bridge? By the mountain that was thrown ,By the emissary of Rama in to the sea ,All the fishes in that sea attained the heavens.
6711. Due to the long mountain put by Neela , the son of fire God ,Touching the bottom most part of the earth , the replaced water,Crossed its boundaries and the ocean with the small bank ,Roared and the water that arose spread all over the world.
6712. Due to one monkey warrior throwing one mountain one thousand Yojanas high ,Which was black and had streams in to the ocean and then roaring ,The clear sea water entered in to the streets of Lanka with homes with flags touching the sky.
6713. Due to the huge mountain that was thrown by the monkey chief Mainda,The sea water which rose from the ocean went and touched the sky and fell down,Went and hit at the end of directions and the direction elephants ,Which are stable in the direction moved and wailed due to great fear.
6714. With a mountain which cannot be moved even by arrow of Lakshmana ,Angadha , the son of Vali who churned the ocean of milk to get nectar ,Churned the sea there , making it suffer pain.
6715. Jambhavan the chief of the huge army of bears uprooted ,A mountain which was as large as the pretty shoulders of Hanuman,And threw it in to the sea due to the speed ,Sea water rose up and fell at the head of all Devas.
6716. Due to the huge mountain thrown by Kumuda a , monkey chief,Which went on jumping and shaking like the people who dance ,The water from the ocean which was spinning spraying ,Went in to the city of devas , who were overjoyed ,With a desire that it was nectar that was coming by churning of the sea.
6717. Unable to bear the huge black mountains thrown by Panasa , with great anger ,After shouting like thunder , Adhi Sesha who had great anger in his mind Left the job of carrying his huge burden and ,Started not taking food so that he would die .
6718 . Due to the number of mountains put by innumerable crowd of bears,Sinking down in to the sea and hitting with each other ,Similar to there being no use with acts not getting blessings ,They all became powder like dust.
6719. The whales in the sea existing to a depth of thousand Yojanas,And spread everywhere, due to the falling of big mountains on them ,Started shivering and shaking making the mountains,Put on them and the sea water displacing one another.
6720. Nala who thought over the methods to make the bund properly ,Broke the stones and joined them properly , arranged the mountains ,To suit each other, filled up the joints with sand and ,With his large hands rubbed on them so that the peaks were equal.
6721. The cluster of mountains brought by the thousand crore monkeys, Who carried them in their hands , were received by Nala in his pillar like hands,And if some of them broke down, he would stop them by his legs and take it.
6722. Those monkeys who were carrying the mountains to build that bund ,Due to no space to go due to the crowd , stood carrying the mountains,And the mountains on the heads of those monkeys appeared like a bund.
6723. Due to many members of the monkey army standing there ,Carrying the big black mountains in their hand , there was no place to go,And they carried those mountains on their heads and swam to that place.
6724. ,Those monkeys which carried and brought the mountains ,With great difficulty , after examining the distance to be covered ,With their legs paining and getting tired , with great hunger ,Placed the mountains down , ate the honey in that mountain ,And forgot the job that they have to do and started sleeping.
6725. Among the monkey warriors who had spread all over the place,There were some who were taking the mountain and some who were ,Going in search of a mountain and some asked, how far the bund is completed,And as a reply to that question some told . “Half of it is over.”
6726. Due to the mountains carried by the monkey warriors getting dipped,In to the ocean , in all parts of the ocean limitless kumkum ,The honey that flows from the caves of the mountains and ,Several types of heaps of scented flowers were to be seen,And that fearsome ocean of salt looked like a long sea filled with honey.
6727. Like the people born in good families who protect their family ,Without getting depressed by the coming of large number of sorrows ,The huge sea which was giving out tumultuous sound did not get worried,When several huge mountains came near to it.
6728. Those mountains thrown in such a way that they pressed ,The coral reefs and broke several coral gems , which gave out,Light like a rain bow and were seen from everywhere.
6729. Due to the monkey warriors uprooting completely the Banyan trees,To build the bund , the crowd of birds which were living there wailedLike a family which had lost its only bread winner who used to support it.
6730. When all the trees which had assured the bees that they can Provide them all the flowers that they need and protecting their life,Were uprooted and fell in the sea , all those bees who lived eating,The honey from their flowers became like the beggars ,Who depended on the wealth of the dead philanthropist .
6731. The fishes that moved away the water drops going and running away ,Seeing theplace in the sea where they were living has been filled up,Looking very subdued went in search of other oceans to continue to live.
6732. The teemed crowd of bees as if they were liking the elephants ,That let out the three types of ruts , went behind them dancing,And went along the elephants but when they went in to the ocean,Along with the mountains they returned back like the prostitutes.
6733. Due to the monkeys uprooting the trees which were fixed on the earth,The climbing plants twining around those trees , though they were suffering greatly ,Like the virtuous ladies of noble families did not leave the tree and fell in to the ocean.
6734. Due the monkeys throwing huge mountains in to the strong ocean The splashing water drops went and fell in other oceans and they lost their taste.And the hot thunderous clouds also got cooled down ,And even the rain water from those clouds had a salty taste.
6735. Due to the monkeys throwing huge well matured mountains in the sea,The water of the sea opposed them making great booming sound ,And went permanently to the top and due to that the hot rays of the sun,Became as cool as the rays of the moon.
6736. When the mountains with great incense were uprooted ,And thrown in the sea , the golden dust that fell out,On the splashed water , was covered with them and went up ,And since they were mixed with coral plants ,The sky looked as if it was producing lightning.
6737. Like the speedily travelling emissaries , the monkeys Went one before the other to the forests as well as kingdoms,Searched for trees as well as stones and bringing them ,They set them in the lands near the sea shore and due to,That all over the world not even a grass shook
6738. Due to the large number of monkeys similar to bringingThe forest and mountain lands and stacked them in beach lands ,They brought and spread the mountains in the sea to become famous,And because of that the sea water occupied al the beaches.
6739.The bund reached within three days the city of Lanka,On the Trikoota mountains and as soon as it was completed ,Due to the joyous shouting of the monkeys , even the sky split in to two And possibly the sky that we see now was newly made after that.
6740. “Rama who was the lord of all beings , for the sake of wiping away,The tears of Lady Sita who decorates her hair with flower petals ,Should not get worried when I am here and let him,Walk fast on my back “That bund which was shining ,High on the sea , seemed to say to Lord Rama.
6741.The lady Lanka with soft habits who had the wealth of truth,Unable to bear the load of evil collected by Ravana the personification of lie ,Perhaps looked at the monkey army and was inviting them,Extending both her arms , Rama the personification of truth,And this was being shown by that bund.
6742. This bund looked as if saying that , “Because the monkey army,Of that Lord of wisdom walks across this broad black sea ,In which very many forest rivers merge , who can claim,To be as great and just as me “ and it looked like The Akasa Ganga in the earth.
6743. Due to the light given by various gems that were there,On the mountains which were brought by the monkeys ,That bund which was built by the valorous monkeys .After the sun set looked like rain bow on sea at night.
6744. Due to their love the Monkey warriors completed the construction,Of the bund to go to Lanka and Sugreeva the chief of all those monkeys ,And Vibheeshana the king of Lanka who held a great spear in his hand,And other leaders went and met Lord Rama.
6745. After reaching there the saluted The feet of the divine lord of the world,And informed him that a Bundwhich is hundred Yojanas long andTen Yojanas broad had been built.
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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.