By Kambar (Kavichakravarthy Kamban)
Translated in English by P. R Ramachander
Kamba Ramayanam-Yudha Kandam 3 (Padalam 8)
8. ,Otthu Kelvi Padalam
Chapter on hearing words of spies of Ravana.
(Sukha and Charana , two spies sent by Ravana reach the army camp of Rama in the form of monkeys. They are recognized by Vibheeshana. Rama pardons them and releases them. Meanwhile Ravana is holding another war council meeting. His grandfather Malyavan tries his best to dissuade Ravana from going to war. The spies come back and report to Ravana.)
6746. Rama who was the personification of maleness .Hugged with springs of nectar like love flowing from his heart,All those who told him the news and with a desire ,To see the craft that went in making the bund ,Told all of them, “Come let us go with speed to see it.”
6747. Rama who is the first among all the worlds went amidst ,The sea of the army of monkeys like a cloud towards ,His own old home and after nearing the bund ,Became filled with love as if he has seen his matchless darling wife.
6748. Rama then thought deeply and told that, “This job,Of filling up the ocean with mountains and constructing a bund ,Even if the construction had been started by the first Brahmin of the world ,Would not be this easily completed.”
6749. That Rama who is the first after deluge was filled with joy and surprise,And Said with joy ‘Is it possible to measure the depth of this sea? Apart from its depth ,The city of Lanka surrounded by it is very big and even if it had been beyond seven seas,These monkeys would have crossed all those seven seas and made this bund.”
6750. With Vibheeshana the Lord of Asuras walking in front , with Hanuman ,Who had learned and mastered all great books known walking at its back,With his younger brother whose only ornament is victory just following him,The valorous Rama who had broad arms and was like a male black elephant went.
6751.That huge army of monkeys walked knocking precious gems,And sandalwood , with the tides on both their sides looking like gardens ,Walked by that bund which was looking like Cauvery river,Which was going and joining the black sea , together and in dense formation.
6752. Since they were carrying all the food articles of the Kurinji ,And other land classification without leaving any thing there,And were also going towards the sea , that army could be called river Cauvery.
6753. Due to the crowding monkey army not finding place to keep one foot ahead,Some of them not having space , for the sake of going speedily went on the tides of the sea,And those monkeys as and when the tide rises went jumping ,Like the horses in war jumping towards the sky.
6754. With the bodies of monkeys completely crowding the bund ,And since there was no way to proceed and with no place to fall,On both sides some of them fell in to the ocean and some cultured monkeys ,Extended their hands and asked them to proceed on them ,And to the number of such monkeys who reached the other shore there is no end.
6755. Protecting the Hot rays of the Sun which were like sawing of the nine gems ,From hurting the cloud like black body of Rama , the monkeys held,Shade giving cut sandal wood trees and tall Bamboo plants and surrounded him.
6756. To prevent the pretty body of the sons of the king who are the personification of truth , Mentioned in The Vedas taught by Brahmins who live in disciplined penance , The commander of armies themselves broke flowering branches ,Made a cowrie out of those flowers and fanned them.
6757. Rama thinking about parting with Sita who had removed her rare bangles,And who had well grown breasts which makes her thin waist scared of being broken,And which made him tired along with the monkey army which was marching,As if they win over all the world , crossed the sea by that bund and reached the other shore .
6758. Along with his younger brother who was born due to the great boons given by Devas ,After doing great penances who gave him comforts like nectar , with his powerful friends,Rama reached the town Where Sita who was as chaste as Arundathi and who was,Like Vanchi creeper talking sweet words is imprisoned and stayed near a hill.
6759. Rama who was the incarnation of Lord Vishnu holding the divine wheel,Looked sweetly at Neela who was the commander in chief and ordered ,“You please arrange for erecting tents quickly for the army ,Which has come along with us “ and he saluted the divine feet of the Lord ,And told Nala who had constructed bund in the sea using mountains ,AS per rules laid down in books , and told that job would be done within a second.
6760. Nala divided the space so that good effect would result , created four squares,And constructed the tents in such a way , that such and such people cannot stay in this tent ,And also constructed tents to Sugreeva and other commanders, special tents ,Built with gold and gems as per rules laid by Lord Brahma in a very short time easily.And seeing that his father Visvakarma felt ashamed that he lacked that great capacity.
6761. With a desire to build a home to Rama who holds the Kodanda bow,He picked rough stones from mountains , polished them smooth ,Made legs by bamboos called Kazhai , tied it with Durba grass ,And made the roof with well scented flowers and completed it.
6762. All the persons there praised Rama who greatly loved all the beings,Like a mother by using their mind and mouth , bowed and saluted his feet,And went towards their dwellings spread in all the eight directions,And Rama sweetly entered the dwelling made for him.
6763. When the monkey warriors who had the nature of spreading threw ,Mountains in to the sea , due to his coral like pure rays turned black,Due to the salt water that were splashed at him , for getting back,His usual bright light , as if to take bath in the sea , the Sun reached the setting mountain.
6764. In the western sky during the tipsy evening period , the white crescent moon,Which is like milk came to give light to the period of night and showered,His arrow like rays on Rama who had lotus like eyes and appeared like,The bow of God of love which is bent by pressing by the feet.
6765. Using the application of scented pollen from a lotus flower with hundred petals on the body,Using the breeze which is lightly scented by rose water , Using the fire called evening ,Using the arrow of god of love which was like God of death ,The moon left its usual cold nature and started having burning heat.
6766. The scene of the rays of the pure white moon passing over shoulders of RamaAfter parting with the lady with divine face who is pretty even when angry,Who had completely lost all pleasures due to sorrow ,On the top of the emerald mountain , due to parting with a peacock and was likeThe white faced little snake which was breathing like fire.
6767. Rama who had hands which are like strong diamonds and red in colour,As and when he neared the city of Lanka , due to parting of his wife sweated all over the body,And became greatly sorrowful proving that approaching Sita who had coral like red mouth Which can burn a person from a distance, will definitely not quench the pain.
6768. When things were like that due to the order of the king of Lanka,Some spies came there and after seeing the size of the monkey army ,And when they put on the form of monkeys and started wandering among them singing,Due to the penance done by him for several days with great patience , Vibheeshana,Who had come and surrendered to Rama’s feet , found them and caught them.
6769. With a very searching mind , inside the ocean of that great army of monkeys,Vibheeshana could recognize those spies and he became a swan ,Which can remove the water drops which had got mixed in the milk of ocean of milk.
6770.The nature of being big and small together is difficult to understand ,And because of that they have ability to make them and their form not visible ,As per the teachings contained in the Vedas and Agamas ,Similar to the peculiar nature of the soul living inside the body ,But Vibheeshana as a great yogi had the ability to see them separately.
6771. After being hit repeatedly by the clenched fists of the monkeys ,Making those who witness it merciful and afterwards tying their hands ,With a creeper of Manai tightly and also made their mouths bleed ,Vibheeshana showed them as “They are thieves “ and “they are cheats “And this was seen by the pretty Rama who was the ocean of mercy.
6772. That Lord Rama who is merciful and has a bed of a serpent ,Did not recognize them as enemies and thought that they might have committed,Some mistake hurting the mind of others , and becoming merciful thinking that,“They are after all monkeys and even if they have committed mistake ,It is only proper to show mercy on those who surrender to us ,And it is not proper to punish them for their mistakes “ said , “free them.”
6773.Vibheeshana who had crying face seeing the very charitable Rama,Who was merciful in and out , said, “they are not monkeys who live,In the forests with mountains but the spies sent by Ravana ,Who does not have good culture. This one is Shukha and the other Sarana”And explained in a way that made Rama understand the situation.
6774. When Vibheeshana who was great in education told like this those spies,With a dark mind, addressing Rama told, “Oh valorous one who holds a very strong bow ,This Vibheeshana has come here understanding the strength of this monkey army ,Knowing that Ravana cannot win over them and has come here ,To kill all the monkeys by trick . Please understand that we are really only monkeys.”
6775. Vibheeshana hearing this said, “Thieves” and chanted a manthra in his mind ,Which can show clearly the true form of those spies who were Asuras ,And change their form as monkeys and they both started having their real asura forms,Like the copper pot painted like silver becoming copper when drop of mercury touches them.
6776. That Rama who removes sorrow of those who are sorrowing and ,Who was an expert in protecting others looked at those evil people ,With shining teeth who were standing like a mountain greatly scared ,Smiled showing his pretty teeth said, “do not get scared ,Why have you come here, Please tell me now.”
6777. Those two spies who were experts in locating the entrances and understanding ,Things without others knowing it saluted Rama and told, “Oh valorous one ,We came here obeying the words of Ravana who has imprisoned ,The goddess who is the mother of all beings and one who protects all,Without understanding after great thought that she is his nemesis ,And we had come here to cheat and spy on you and tell him about everything.”
6778. Rama said, “Oh experts in the job that you do , go and tell Ravana the news,That I have given the limitless wealth of this city of Lanka to the brother Vibheeshana,And also tell him the great act of the monkeys in filling up the ocean with mountains ,And building a bridge and tell him those two great archers Who were waiting all this while have arrived.”
6779. ”This city of Lanka in which Ravana with many heads lives and which is protected,By the mountains happens to be located in a corner of the very wide sea ,And since our mind did not know that , Ravana and his relatives Were kept alive till now, please tell him this.”
6780. “Please also tell him that I would cut in to pieces that Ravana ,Who does not follow Dharma , even if Lord Shiva wearing a crescent travelling ,On A bull and Lord Vishnu who wears Thulasi on his crown ,And travels on the speedy Garuda and all the beings that live ,In this very old universe came as help to protect him.”
6781. ”Similar to Parasurama who used the sharpened axe as his weapon ,Who exterminated the entire clan of the king who killed his father ,I would exterminate all the Asura clan and all those who are on his side ,Take away his life , for avenging the death of my father Jatayu ,And I would offer his slain body as sacrificial offering to the devas .“Please tell him this and make him understand it.”
6782. ”Tell him that I would keep him , who has kept Sita who has been doing,Faultless penance , in the lonely prison and made her wilt and fade ,And thus has done unimaginable cruelty along with his relations,In the hell with burning fire , from where there is no escape ,And also give all his wealth to the Brother Vibheeshana.”
6783. ”You have entered in all places where the army is there and seen every one,And if there is no more job to be done by you here, since I have said, “do not fear”,You can go safely from here” said Rama and told Sugreeva and others ,To see to it that they are not pained in the body and mind and ,Send them to Lanka and those people happy that they are alive went back.
6784. When things were happening like this , the king of the people of Lanka,Saw in his mind the scare experienced by Varuna , the God of the ocean,The strength by which a bund was built over the sea,And the coming of the army by that bund, when he was alone for thinking.
6785. That Ravana went along with people of wisdom in to the long council hall,Where even light breeze would not enter unless summoned ,After sending away ladies with shining chest tied by a cloth and other men .
6786. That hall was surrounded by servants who cannot feel by their mind,Who cannot talk , Who cannot hear what one says , who do not have other limbs,And the hunchbacks and Dwarfs who were holding good lamps with multi flames.
6787. That Ravana who had pretty feet lit by the gems inlaid,On the crowns who were saluting his feet said “The men who are ,Our enemies have arrived and what are the actions ,That we should boldly perform “ looking at his council members.
6788. Malyavan said “WE have heard that the king of the ocean ,Got scared by the fire which appears in the sea at deluge ,And burnt by the arrows of Rama , went and saluted him,Presented a nine gem lustrous garland and ,This news has wounded my mind just like a spear.”
6789. ”The news that Varuna who got a matchless bad name that ,The ocean was split in to two and is the end of his prowess, with great fear,AS per the request of Rama gave him path to build a bund , is hurting my mind.”
6790. “ Completely uprooting the mountains created by the God,Those monkey soldiers who have made no mountains exist in this world,Are slapping their shoulders with great joy and they brought those mountains,And blocked the ocean in such a way tha it would not move ,And these acts of theirs has completely blocked my mind .”
6791. ”Oh king ,Numerous monkeys who were more angry than fire,Went on giving mountains as per their capacity continuously ,And one person received all those by the matchless fingers of his hand And put them in the sea and this saddens me as if it is is put on my chest.”
6792. ”After seeing Hanuman burning our very old city by our eyes,After seeing a bund being made in side the sea and closing it ,After seeking Khara and others of indestructible valour being killed,And after seeing that those people who have done this have come here ,Is it necessary for us to hold discussion in this council hall?”
6793. When the maternal grand father of Ravana told him like this,Ravana bit his lips with his teeth due to great anger and with fire sparks ,Coming out of his eye said, “good, good, our council proceedings,Are going on properly “and told Malyavan “go along with,My younger brother Vibheeshana and live happily with him.”
6794. When Ravana told this with anger , Malyavan who was greatly experienced,Felt “Would telling what is Good is also sin?” and kept silent ,And then the commander in chief of Ravana told the following.
6795. ”Oh Lord Malyavan , Except their show of strength In crossing the ocean before our eyes ,Perhaps you did not know the truth That even the protectors of eight directions ,Are doing menial jobs to our king .
6796. ”You have become scared of the monkeys ,And you are telling that they threw mountains in to the sea,Don’t you remember that our lord had uprooted the Kailasa mountain,Along with Lord Shiva sitting on its top with his consort?”
6797. ”What is the need for us to fear when we hear that,Our enemies have completely blocked the sea by throwing mountains?They are ignorant people and have entered in our city ,To fight the war and it is definitely an act,That is pushing them to great destruction..”
6798. At that time one person who had covered his body with a shirt ,Who had fire sparks coming out of his eyes due to great anger,Who was holding a stick and who was the security guard came in,And told Ravana “The spies have come back ”
6799. When the security guards saluted and told like this , the chief of Asuras,Ravana who had eyes which was like flaming fire and great strength ,Told them, “Make them enter here “and as permitted the spies entered.
6800. Those spies who had shivering mind when they think about ,The army of monkeys who were like pieces of palm tree ,And who were vomiting blood whenever they wanted to speak,Entered the palace and saluted the feet of their king Ravana.
6801. That Ravana who was biting his mouth wanting to take away souls,“Please tell me the condition of that lazy Vibheeshana who is scared of war ,The army of monkeys which is like the wide sea ,And the efficiency of those two who are wandering in garb of sages.”
6802. When Ravana told like this those spies told how they crossed the sea,Within one Nazhiga and how they wandered around the war tents of the monkey army ,By taking the form of monkeys and how they reached inside the army.
6803. ”We your slaves due to interest started examining ,The very long monkey army and like the Garuda with speed,Which had vision in all directions andWhich failed to find the boundaries of the old sea , we also failed to find its end.”
6804. ”Is there not a need for us to find out the strength and capabilities ,Of the enemy army and to report to you about it ? Those monkey warriors,Not able to find the other shore of sea of anxiety became very sad ,And reached the sea and the drops of sea water which fell in this city,Due to their throwing mountains in to the sea , would have told you about their valour.”
6805. ”When Rama came to the edge of the sea and was doing penance ,The God of the sea did not come and help and thinking about it Rama the man,Looked at his own mountain like shoulders , saw the arrows and saw his bow ,And immediately the ocean started burning.”
6806. ”Oh king on whose chest the garlands shakes , till the date up to which,The Sun God travels on his chariot and as long his great name “Rama”,Exists in the world , all the great wealth of Lanka which is surrounded ,By the ocean would be given to your brother Vibheeshana by Rama.”
6807. ”When we know about the several reasons to praise ,The power of the shoulders of Hanuman who came here as an emissary,The fact that Rama has got built a bund over the ocean,By the help of several monkeys , is the new proof of their strength.”
6808. ”Like the fact that the Sun God showed the very strong lord Vishnu ,The Asuras who were hiding within them ,In the evening when the Devas were eating the nectar ,Your brother Vibheeshana became very angry ,And showed us who were in form of monkeys to the other monkeys.”
6809. ”With the help of the monkey soldiers we were caught ,By their palm like hands , rotated till our long shoulders broke ,Pulled and spun and shown to the victorious Rama,Who was shining like Sun God , Vibheeshana told him who we were?”
6810. “Then that king said, “With the arrows that I have ,I would destroy all boons got by Ravana earlier “ and also,After knowing that we are not monkeys ,Rama in great mercy allowed us to escape ,And this is the only news that we have brought.”
6811. Then they also told all other news as well as the message ,Sent by Rama who was the God of truth without forgettingAnd greeted him, ”Let all evil deeds which are wrong ,Go away from today .Let you attain growth in life.”
6812”. Like the curse of elders which can kill without any doubt ,The men who hold the bow easily reached the sea with Makara fishes,Along with a valorous army and have reached the city of Lanka ,And so at this time we cannot think anything else , except,Starting for the war or are there any other alternative ?”Asked Ravana and the guard of the army started replying.
6813. ”Even if you release Sita , the enemy devas would berate you saying that,The king of Lanka got scared and did it and we can also end the war ,By signing a treaty of peace and even if the enemies agree for this ,Your younger brother Vibheeshana would not agree to it ,And so when the war is so near , you only have to order us as what is to be done.”
6814. Earlier we had decided that we would go to the place of the enemies,And after killing the two men and monkey army return back to our place ,But today the enemies themselves have reached here. Is there any stable news in that ?If we get what we wanted , is it not better than the victory that we are going to achieve?”
6815. ”Oh Lord , even if our thousand vellam army of asuras is going to be destroyed,It can take one hundred full periods between the deluge and so ,What is the need for us to feel inferior? If you get angry and go to the war ,The monkeys would disperse like a group of dogs ,Seeing a group of lions as they are not capable of opposing us?”
6816. ”Please see me and our army doing great war and drive away ,Those men and their army so that they all fall in great ocean and die,Please give me leave” said the commander in chief Prahastha ,Which was suitable to Ravana who had driven out Indra in a great war.
6817. Malyavan whose wisdom is acknowledged by everyone thinking that ,“some good truths have been told for general betterment and adopting them ,To suit our circumstance is the path of Dharma “ started telling Ravana ,That Prahastha and others who want to oppose the enemies ,Were doing as per their fate and were travelling in the path of destruction..
6818. He then told that, “The God of Gods who is the acme of the faultlessness ,And pure flow of light was born as the son of Dasaratha who was ,Looking after the earth with ocean as boundary without any rest,And has now come to fight the war with us , This is what people are talking.”
6819. Lakshmana who is the brother of Rama , the son of Dasaratha , who stands ,Separately from the great state of Para(divine) which is defined by the Vedas,Takes various forms and is in side all the faultless beings ,Leaving out his divine state but has never altered from his purity,And all people say he is Adhi Sesha the bed of Vishnu . I do not know why?”
6820. They also say that “The arrows of that Rama and Lakshmana were made ,By Lord Brahma himself after separating the strength of great mountains ,And the string that is tied to the bow is Adhi Sesha himself and ,The sharp tip of those well chosen arrows which attacks ,Has the property of calculating life span in the wheel of time.”
6821. “They say that the son of Vali who has come to battle is Lord Indra himself ,Who is the lord of all Devas , Neela is the son of Fire which eats way the world ,At time of deluge , The emissary Hanuman who is like the God of death ,Is the son of wind God and they also in the next birth he would become Lord Brahma.,”
6822. “ All people say ,that the Lord Rama who has given him the position of Lord Brahma ,Has reached this city of Lanka to exterminate the Rakshasa tribe, Are they simply,Telling it for fun or are they telling the truth ? And they also say ,That each of the monkeys who have come here are sons of different devas,What is the point in telling all these to you at this time?”
6823. “Are they telling these after research ? Or are they telling these due to fear?Or are they telling it after understanding it by wisdom? Whatever it may be ,That pure Sita is the Goddess Lakshmi who came out when ocean was churned,And she is the mother of the entire world, who cannot be seen by bare eyes,She is the the great Goddess who lives in the great heavens ,And they say do not call her as a weakling.”
6824. , “They also told that the way that Rama came to the forest ,Is because of the request of Devas, The Greatest God ,Who is the Lord of Dharma has come in the form of Rama ,Considering the great boons got by Ravana , the king of Lanka ,Built on Trikona mountains and has the sea with its fishes as moat.”
6825. “They said that to this city of Lanka , thousands and thousands of ill omens have occurred ,They said the Goddess of security of Lanka who was hit by Hanuman ,Who was the emissary of the very suitable Rama who was asked ,To find out the good Sita who loves all the beings more than their motherAnd had left Lanka , They said war entered in to the city in the form of Hanuman.”
6826. “ Vibheeshana who by his body belongs to our clan of Asuras,Who does not tell a lie , who is greater by arms length than Bruhaspathi , the Guru of Devas,And who is wise brother told you that , all the asuras with you their king ,Would be killed by the arrows of Rama and went out. They properly said.”
6827. ”I came to know all these as told by others and due to the reason that,My clan of Asuras has always been destroyed by Lord Vishnu and due to the fact,That I have great love towards you , A great sorrow ebbed in my mind,Due to which I told you these . If you now release Sita, all your sorrows would end.”Said Malyavan.
6828. Ravana replied ”let all these rest. You told now the nature of men, monkeys and Devas ,Who were defeated by me and besides that told, “I would get defeated”,Your learned knowledge seems to be great,” and also told the following.
6829. ”Along with the ignorant men , not only the monkeys , let all other beings,Join together with them. Let the people of serpent world join with those on earth ,And let the heavens also join with them and come desiring for a great war with me ,With a bubbling mind . Even if all these enemies come for the sake of Sita,Would I retreat from waging a war and fighting with them.”
6830”. Would not the very many arrows with me which are in my hand ,Which have won all over the world , which are more powerful than one’s Karma,Which pierced the back of Devas who wanted to fight with me,And went beyond them in the battle field ,become ineffective against these monkeys?”
6831. ”If Lord Shiva who is famous for holding the trident in his broad hands,Appear before me as a monkey and fight with me in war , he would retreat ,And what else can he do? The sharp arrows that are in my hand ,Are not the poison that appeared in the ocean , so that he can swallow them.”
6832. “Oh sir , even if Lord Vishnu holding the divine wheel who ran away,Scared from war with me comes before me and attacks me ,The arrows in my hand would emit fire burn sun, moon and fire themselves,And are they Kaisthubha gems which reached his chest when the ocean was churned?Possibly you may not be aware of that.”
6833. ”If that Indra who holds the sword of victory has taken the form of monkey,Are my mountain like shoulders , the small hills , whose wings he cut them off ,Long time ago using his sharp Vajrayudha , which fell down and could not rise up?”
6834. With mind going as emissary , with the mind of ladies which has gone astray ,Who were going to the place of their lovers becoming sad ,With CHakravake birds losing their anxiety , the water of darkness ,Which was engulfing Meru mountain where lot of devas lived ,Started flowing out and the darkness that was covering the world went away.
6835. The Sun god who used to normally going outside the Golden wall of Lanka,Greatly scared tp peep in to the city to get an idea of the city , thinking that,The king of kings Rama had come agreeing for a war and so I am stronger now,Appeared on the eastern sky as if to see that great city of Lanka.
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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.