Kamba Ramayanam: Bala Kandam 4 (Padalam 12)

By Kambar (Kavichakravarthy Kamban)

Translated in English by P. R Ramachander

Kamba Ramayanam – Bala Kandam 4 (Padalam 12)

12. Karmukha padalam

(The chapter    of  the bow.)(  The bow is brought   by the servants  of the king. Sixty thousand of them lifted the bow  by placing wooden logs in between them. In Valmiki Ramayanam  five hundred  people  drag it by keeping  it  in an iron  cart. Guru Sadananda  told them the story of that bow  as well as that of Sita.Under the orders of sage Viswamithra Rama  breaks that  bow,. King Janaka, all devas, and  all people of  Mithila became happy and  celebrate  the event. One of the friends of Sita goes and informs this to the love sick Sita. After listening , Sita concludes that  it is Rama  himself. As per the  advice of Viswamithra , Janaka  sends  emissaries along with marriage proposal.)

666. ”What can I tell   against your words, I am greatly upset  because,I had kept this illusory bow    as    the condition   of marriage of  my daughter ,And because of  the condition    my wish has    not so far been fulfilled ,And suppose this lad   who has   all good characters,Is able  to  shoot an arrow out   of this great bow,He would   be helping me to get out of  my sea of sorrow,And my   daughter also would realize the result of her  penance.”

667. Then seeing his assistants  who were   standing before him, he said,“Bring that mountain like great bow   here” and those four people saluted him, Said “yes”,Ran quickly   and went to the place   where  the bow  decorated with gold was kept.

668. Sixty thousand of  his people   who had  a body like  a strong elephant,Who had mountain like   shoulders   which were covered by hair,After keeping   pillar like stays  in several places  in between the bow,Carried   it   on those pillars  which they kept on their shoulders.

669. The earth where the bow   was kept  got her  much needed rest,And the Meru mountain which has  grown very tall   became  very shy  on seeing it,And the people   who have  spread  like    an ocean , seeing the bow coming,Felt that   there    would not  be any more space for them.

670. Some people told,  “Except  Lord Vishnu  holding the conch and the wheel,Who had red hands     and who was like    a he lion , no one else can lift it,And suppose he cannot    who is there in this world , who can even dare to touch it  ,And  if   today    this lad    bends this bow , Sita’s marriage   would live well.”

671. They further said,” Calling it a  bow  is a   word of deceit, for this is like Golden Meru,“ Even Brahma who is supposed to have made  it has not touched  it with his hand, But had made it using his great penance.”  Some people there   told,“WE do not know who in the early times was   able to pull its string?”

  672. Some where doubting whether  it was made  by   using the tall Meru mountain,And some others told, “No it was  made using Mandhara mountain after ,The long pretty ocean was churned.” And    some others said,“It is indeed   the king of serpents  who had great luster and some said,
Perhaps the  bow Of Indra   might have slipped from sky and has fallen down.”

673. Some said, “Why did this  king  ordered this bow to be brought?”“Are there any foolish people   like this king who wants to bend that bow”“Possibly by some good deed done  in earlier life  , he may be able to do it”,And some said,” Has the maid Sita ever seen this bow?”

674. Some said, “What would be the aim of the arrow kept in this bow?”,“Janaka has kept this bow only for the good of his daughter   Sita”,“Would   the God Vishnu    be able to bend this arrow?”And some said, “This is the  play of fate” and became sad.

675. When the people of Mithila who had assembled  were talking like this,The servants of the king who brought  it kept in the bow  on earth, making the back of earth bend,And all those kings who saw it were telling, “who is going to bend this bow?”And   being scared   even to touch the bow started   shivering.

676. Janaka seeing Rama who was like an elephant calf   and his beauty,And seeing that bow which was giving him pain   and again thought of  his daughter,And when he   was getting worried   whether Sita would ever get marired,Sadananda    the  son of Gautama started    telling.

677.  That Shiva who bent the   mountain Meru    as a bow  ,Because  “Daksha had   insulted  Uma who was   by his side”,Due the ebbing anger   which was not having patience  ,Took this bow and reached the place of Yaga of Dhaksha.

678. Some of those devas who had come there  started running  greatly tired, And entered and hid in places where  the devas will never hide,The    fire    in the  fire sacrifice was put out and Shiva also lost his anger.

679,. Lord Shiva seeing that all the devas    were shivering  ,And knowing well that   their life span was very long,Gave   that great bow   to a king  born in the clan of Janaka, Who used   to cultivate    his country using his   sword.

680. ” I Should  tell about the greatness of this  bow  now?Except for sages  who are   equal to Lord Shiva  , no body can do it.Also please hear the story   of  the daughter  of Janaka ,Who has hips like   the storey of   the chariot.

681. For performing the yagna  , on  the hump of  a bull with     steel like two horns, A   beam  which was shining like   crystal was    fixed  and to which was    tied,A golden  plough    embedded with several gem was    tied  to it ,And this was dragged  several times on the fertile field   over   several channels.

682. While ploughing on the face of the plough , like a shining sun,There appeared   a form which appeared to be that of goddess  earth,A child  whom   even Goddess Lakshmi    who was born with nectar from ocean of milk,Would  move to one side    and salute    and who appeared to be   the queen of all girls.

683. How can I tell about the   good natures     of this   girl for  all those  good natures, Are quarrelling with each other   to become one with    that girl who was like   a flower branch.What about her beauty?  After   this girl with    big ear   globes      appeared  ,All other girls lost their beauty  like the rivers  losing    their holiness,When the river called Ganges   came down from the   sky   to this earth.

684. ”Oh lord who knows everything , due to their mastery in  arts  like archery  ,And their fate lying on different directions  ,  all devas were attracted by  Goddess  Lakshmi ,This Lakshmi like girl   all the kings of earth loved   and this  happening,Cannot be found in any other case on  this earth.”

685. ,All   kings who were having huge army   of elephants with trunk and are in rut,Along with their ocean like army   , making sound   like a torrential sea,Came requesting  for  her hand in marriage and    we told them  that  ,Only a person who can bend the bow ,of lord  Shiva   who wore,The tiger skin and elephant hide  as dress  ,  by his own strength,Would  be  suitable    to   marry this pretty maid in a firm manner.

686. ”Oh saint who protects the world using the    bow of words,Those kings   who were not able to bend   this great bow,Who were not even capable of  bending  the sugarcane bow of God of love  ,Since they loved  this black haired beauty   who came with,The huge bow of Shiva    which was like a mountain,  Called us    and started waging war against us.

687. The big army  of our great king  due  to unremitting war,Started reducing like the wealth which reduces only  just kings.And the army of those kings who loved   this girl,Whose   curled hair was surrounded by   the humming of bees, Went on increasing just like the desires of those kings.

688. Those devas who wear     shining crowns   seeing that this king,With strong and pretty shoulders   was thinning down,In the battles to protect the bow of the God who has bull as steed,Took mercy on him    and helped him by giving the four segments of the army,And the kings went away   like a crow getting scared   of an owl.

689. From that  day till to date    no body has gone near this bow,And the kings  with chariots  who went to hiding  , also did not come back,And we were   all thinking that   Sita would never get married,And so if   This Rama is able to pull the string of this bow it would be good,Because   the beauty   of Sita who decorates her hair with flowers   would not be wasted.

690. After keenly hearing all that was told by sage Sadananda  ,The learned sage   after deep thought   shook his pretty matted hair  ,And saw the face of Rama who was like a bull ready to fight  ,And  that hero who was like a picture   understanding the signShown by the great sage  , saw that great bow    with interest.

691. He stood up the like the   rising  flash of fire from the sacred fire,When all the ghee  is together  poured in to it as oblation,And went towards the bow and the devas shouted, “The bow is broken”, And   words of blessings were told  by sages   who had  won  ,Over their three enemies  Passion  , jealousy   and   anger.

692. The one sent  by the ancient sage   who has undertaken great penances,Before  he broke that great bow  , the God of love   shot  his arrows.At the minds of  ladies with pretty ornaments  ,And they all became   a victim the love bow of his.

693. Some ladies told, The feet of the great bow we are seeing   is strong, And some told that   if  the red and pretty hand    of the shy Sita,Is not caught by   the  long hand with red palm   of this lad,Sita with a shining forehead   would   not have any   further life.

694.  Some ladies with folded hands in salutation said,If this lad who is like an elephant calf  is not able to   bend ,This bow bringing tears    of joy in to our eyes ,The Sita with musk scented hair   and also ourselves, Would jump and drown    in the burning fire.

695. If the charitable king  indeed wanted to  become happy   by  this  marriage,He would have told this Rama   to get married to Sita   and not ,Put this bow   of the Shiva who carries Ganges   before him,And ask him to bend and send an arrow, as it is foolish.

697. When all the ladies were talking like   this within them selves,With the good blessings of great sages   and creating joy,Among all in the world of devas  Rama   who was like a big bull, Making the golden mountain Meru   and the elephants ashamed,Walked and reached the   place where    the bow was kept.

698. He lifted     that  huge bow of Shiva  which resembled a golden mountain,Like a   garland of flowers   meant for wearing it    To Sita ,Who was like a difficult to search gem   and  ,Was wearing golden bangles     as well as armlets.

699. All those   who had stopped blinking of their eyes,So that   they could see all the happenings, saw,Rama  planting his feet on the lower end of the bow,And tying the string on the other end  but,Due to the speed of the action   they could only  see,That he took it by his hand   but they also  heard it break.

700. The devas and  Lord Brahma who was born in a lotus,Thinking that great universe has broken  and getting worried,As  to with whom they will surrender and seek protection,If this is the case  of the world of devas, what can be told about earth?And the snake which carries the universe on his head   and ,Was lying  like a root to the world    got greatly scared.

701.  The devas concluding that   The victory  and the fearful spear of Janaka,Has been helped   by   the good deeds he did  in last birth  only today,Showered   flowers, The clouds showered   Gold   and  all the  great oceans, Sprinkled various types of gems   and made huge applauding sound, And all great sages    chanted words of blessing to   the king.

702. White conches  , horns   and several  other musical instruments  blared in the city,People were giving  flower garlands  , ornaments  ,  sandal  paste  , scented powders ,Scented oils  , the pearl from the sea  , gold  , gems and fine cloth  to each other,And like   the ocean   was making huge sound   like in season  , and sound reverberated.

703.   Ladies with spear like eyes   and rising moon at night    danced like peacocks ,Dancing when they see dark clouds   With playing of   Veena(yaazh)  like   dripping of honey, Decorated with smile , ear studs   and    were   spreading light every where.

704. Like one drunk   with  toddy   that spoils the brain, the black eyed damsels,With red shot eyes hugged their husbands   so that  the love tiff   is removed,Like the white clouds drinking    water from the sea   with large waves  ,The poor people   went on taking  away the wealth   of their   king.

705. Drinking  the sweet music of dancers  , nectar like   songs of ladies,The song of Panars (minstrel musicians)  singing    religious songs   to accompaniment  of Yaazh,Which  appeared as  if they were extracting   honey from such songs,The songs  of various tunes using the flute , using their ears ,Devas   stood there  with benumbed bodies like statues.

706. The ladies of the world of devas   who had come down to see   the strength of Rama,During   the breaking of the bow   , came down from the sky  and by acion and form,Danced  with damsels of earth  and not able to   find out the  difference hugged them,But seeing  their long black eyes   wearing Kajal   blinking  ,They understood that   they were not  Deva damsels   and stood perplexed.

707.  Some of them said  ,”son of Dasaratha “  Some said , “Lotus eyed lad”,Some said his colour is black like cloud, some said it resembled  Black kamyapoo flowers,Same said, “He is not human being”, Some said , He is Lord Vishnu of the sea   where  fishes live,” And some of them  were  saying  :”this world is in stupor.”

708. Some said ,”to see the beauty of Rama   , Sita should have   thousand eyes,”Some said, “since every time   we see the flower branch  like sita , we see   a new prettiness,It is Rama who needs the thousand eyes” some said  , “see his brother  , the world is  lucky,”And some others , “let us all salute Viswamithra who brought   these lads to this city.”

709. When things like these were happening in the court   , we will start telling about  ,What happened  in the” maiden   house”    to Sita  who spent the night     along with the  moon,And afterwards with the desire to see that   lad again   , who  was little energized ,Though  her   soul had undergone torture ,and who had     very thin waist and very huge breasts,Black eyes   with reddish tinge   and who was   Wearing golden bangles  . 

710. Sita  with a soul which was swinging    between life and death like a swing,Got up from the flower bed , which was the reason  for melting of her body,With friends who were wearing   ornaments  made of pure gold surrounding her,She went  and reached   the banks of lake which was crowded with faultless  lotus flowers,Where  in a  room built  by crystal , and laid down    in a pretty bed of flowers  ,Which   was cooled by    moon stones as well as    sprinkling of cold water.

711. Oh  lotus  plants   which   has    cool   pleasant scent  ,Understanding that a girl is suffering   due to parting with her lover ,And exhibiting your greatness , you showed  his colour by your leaves ,And I was little consoled   and you also  showed    the  colour of his eyes,Which stole    my colour resembling young leaves  using your flowers,But why did you retreat  without   giving him to me.

712. I saw  him   with bow like Meru mountain tied with a string like    Adhi sesha,With his hands caressing that string , with mountain like     shoulders  ,With  the quiver  tied in between the arrows  , With wave of sacred thread  like lustrous  moon light,And with  a chest covered by flower  garland  . If I am able   to see  him once more  ,I would  definitely be able to see   my    soul  once again.

713. With a face like moon who is in the sky  , with a hair braid   ,Which is   roved about   by bees   wanting to drink honey  from flower garland,That  cloud which was wearing a very long bow   using its    two eyes,Drank and drank my   soul  , It is true that   the cloud  is there ,Within me now  and not only that   will be there   always.

714. When that cruel God of love   with his long victorious   bow  ,Using   his cruel arrows  has attacked my soul  like ,The fire attacking    the cotton   and  wounded  my mind,And when     confusion and sorrow   mixes in my mind,He  did not come  near me  to tell  ,”do not be scared “And offer me protection. What type of masculinity is his ?

715. Oh breasts of mine which do  not thin down,Since you are  growing   out    and out,What great thing    are you going   to achieve.Like a moon who is not able to appear in the sky,Would   the way open  for me to tightly hug   the chest of him,Who has a shining face , who holds  a bow which is  difficult to bend ,In his hand  . Please tell me the various penances that I should do for that.”

716. ”That God of love after   wandering in my mind  and hit an arrow,On my breasts where  the sickness  of mind primarily rises, like pouring poison on it,But The moon which appeared    before me yesterday  is not moon,Because it did not have stain on it , and where did that moon come from?”

717. ”oh my mind, that god of love came near me making my mind boil,And send a poisoned arrow  and due to the pain it caused  ,My  soul did not stay there  and without getting destroyed ,Came out from there and surrendered at   the feet of that lad,Who was like a big black elephant from whom the warm water  of rut flows out,And followed him  .I do not understand how my soul came back?’

718. “Similar    to the cloud   that was formed in the sky coming down on earth,That Lord  with the sacred thread that he wore on his chest came before me,And though he does  not go away from my mind  , I am not able to recognize him,Even though he is visible before my eyes, why am I not able  to recognize him?”

719” .Like those   fools from whose hands the pot of gold containing  nectar slipped,Though it was born in the milky ocean   and became   available   to them by their good deeds,I  did not hug tightly   the  shoulders of the lord   which appeared  before me  ,And why am I   lamenting like this  after losing the chance  at that time?”

720. When Sita ,  near   whose breasts the  golden coloured love scar appeared ,With a very sorry heart   was piteously   weeping and getting drowned in sorrow  ,We will now tell   the news brought by   one of her friends  , who had a  cool mind,And who had moon like face with kajal tainted   eyes  , who happened to witness ,The breaking   of the mountain like    bow   by Rama personally .

721. That Neela Maa who had eyes like    a blue lotus   in a very big lake,Shining like  with many more   colours   than the  rain bow since she was wearing ,Due to wearing several necklaces and ear globes   in both her ears,Came running  with her braided hair with flowers   and dress  slipping down.

722. AS soon as she came she did not salute the feet of Sita but shouted,With great joy   , danced and sang songs   and seeing her Sita told,“please tell me   the reason for  the joy of your mind and happenings that caused it”,And then friend immediately  saluted   Sita and started   telling.

723. A son of Dasaratha who has   ocean like collection of   elephants,Horses   and Chariots , Who is great in wisdom  and who has long  hands,Which shower his riches like    clouds    shower   rain  and,Who   rules  over his kingdom with all   the earth praising him,Is there  who is more pretty   than God of love ,Who puts the entire world in to trance by his     arrows.

724. That lad who has   strong shoulders  like Maramara   trees,And who raises  a doubt in our mind whether   he is Lord Vishnu,Who sleeps   on a serpent and who is named    as Rama,Along with his younger brother   and a sage,Whose  fame   cannot be measured   has reached our town.

725. That one who  has  shoulders wearing   shoulder  rings,Had came here to see the divine bow    of Lord shiva  ,And  as per the orders    of the king  he had bent that bow,And   tied the string easily  making the land of devas  shiver.

726. Within a second by   stepping on one end of the bow,Possibly with a feeling that   it is but a very old bow,He bent by the strength of his    shoulders and then,Devas  praised him  , Flowers were showered from the sky,And that bow  broke and fell , making the people of king’s council shiver.

727. Hearing    that he    was like a cloud and came with a great sage  ,And also that he was lotus eyed and as strong as Vishnu  .Sita decided, “It is him”,  and  her suspicion  was  cleared  ,And with  her hip enlarging her waist belt     shook.

728. People who used to tell that   she does not have   any waist,Would be now saying that    she indeed has   a waist,With her breasts enlarging  she was breathing deeply ,And decided in her mind   that  he is that  person,And if he is not  I would certainly embrace death.

729. With emotion of love increasing  she felt little feeble  ,And Janaka    hearing the sound of breaking of the bow,Created by Brahma   who lives in a lotus flower with fresh leaves,Became extremely happy   and started telling sage Viswamithra,

730. Oh great one  , is it your desire  that the ritual of marriage  ,Of this lad who looks like your son  be celebrated   today itself?Or do you desire   that we should call   to this city the king Dasaratha,Who wears heroes armlets   an huge army  along with sound  raised by drums, And celebrate   the   marriage ?Please   think  well and tell me.

731. When Janaka who isan expert in wrestling   told these words ,And when the sage said that it would me more proper for Dasaratha  to reach there,Janaka with matchless joy    gave a letter  and told his messengers,To inform about all happenings  there    and sent them away swiftly.

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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.

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