DASARATHA’S REPLY TO VISWÁMITRA.
Válmíki added:—On hearing these words of Viswámitra, the tiger among
kings remained speechless for a moment, and then besought him in the
lowliness of his spirit.
2. Ráma my lotus-eyed boy is only of fifteen years of age. I do not see
he is a match for the Rákshasas.
3. Here is a full _akshauhiní_ legion of my soldiers; of whom, Oh my
Lord! I am the sole commander; surrounded by them I will offer battle
to the Rákshasas cannibals.
4. Here are my brave generals who are well disciplined in warfare; I
will be their leader in the height of war with my bow in hand.
5. Accompanied with these, I can offer fight to the enemies of the
gods, and to the great Indra himself, in the same manner as the lion
withstands the wild elephants.
6. Ráma is but a boy who has no knowledge of the strength of our
forces, and whose experience has scarcely stretched to the battle field
beyond the inner apartments (of the house).
7. He is not well trained in arms, nor is he skilled in warfare. He
does not know to fight with a foe, arrayed in the order of battle.
8. He only knows how to walk about in the gardens of this city and
amidst the arbours and pleasant groves.
9. He only knows how to play with his brother princes, in the flowery
parks set apart for his play within the precincts of the palace.
10. Nowadays, Oh Bráhman! he has become by a sad reverse of my fortune,
as lean and pale as the withering lotus under the dews.
11. He has no taste for his food, nor can he walk from one room to
another, but remains ever silent and slow brooding over his inward
grief and melancholy.
12. In my great anxiety about him, O chief of sages, I have been, with
my family and dependants, deprived of the gist of our bodies, and
become as empty clouds of autumn.
13. Can my boy, so young as he is, and thus subjected to distemper, be
fit to fight at all, and again with those marauders who rove about at
nights.
14. Oh thou high-minded sage! it is one’s affection for his son that
affords him far greater pleasure than his possession of a kingdom, or
his connection with beauteous females, or even his relish for the juice
of nectar.
15. It is from paternal affection that good people (engage to) perform
the hardest duties and austerities of religion, and any thing which is
painfull in the three worlds.
16. Men are even prepared under certain circumstances to sacrifice
their own lives, riches and wives; but they can never sacrifice their
children: this is the nature with all living beings.
17. The Rákshasas are very cruel in their actions and fight deceitful
warfares: so that Ráma should fight them, is an idea which is very
painful to me.
18. I that have a desire to live, cannot dare to live for a moment in
separation from Ráma; therefore thou shouldst not take him away (from
me).
19. I have O Kausika! passed nine thousand rains in my lifetime, ere
these four boys were born to me after much austerity.
20. The lotus-eyed Ráma is the eldest of these without whom the three
others can hardly bear to live.
21. This Ráma is going to be conveyed by thee against the Rákshasas;
but when I am deprived of that son, know me certainly for dead.
22. Of my four sons he is the one in whom rests my greatest love.
Therefore do not take away Ráma—my eldest and most virtuous son from
me.
23. If thy intention Oh sage, is to destroy the force of night
wanderers, take me there accompanied by the four kinds (elephants,
horse, chariots and foot soldiers) of mine army.
24. Describe to me clearly what these Rákshasas are, how strong they
are, whose sons they be and what their size and figure.
25. Tell me the way in which the Rákshasas are to be destroyed by Ráma
or my boys or by myself, when they are known to be treacherous in
warfare.
26. Tell me all these, Oh great sage! that I can calculate the
possibility of our making a stand against the fiercely disposed
Rákshasas in the open field, when they are certainly so very powerful.
27. The Rákshasa named Rávana is heard as being very powerful, he is
brother of Kubera himself, and is the son of the sage Visravas.
28. If it is he, the evil minded Rávana, that stands in the way of thy
rites, we are unable to contend with that pest.
29. Power and prosperity in all their flourish come within the reach of
the living at times, but they disappear at others.
30. Nowadays we are no match for such foes as Rávana and some others.
Such is the decree of destiny.
31. Therefore, O thou, that art acquainted with law, do this favour to
my son (as not to take him away); unlucky as I am, it is thou that art
the arbiter of my fate.
32. The gods, and Asuras, the Gandharvas and Yakshas, the huge beasts,
birds and serpents are unable to fight with Rávana: what are we human
beings in arms to him.
33. That Rákshasa holds the prowess of the most powerful, we cannot
afford to fight with him, nor even with his children.
34. This is a peculiar age in which good people are made powerless;
I am moreover disabled by old age and want that spirit (that I was
expected to possess) derived as I am from (the most powerful) race of
the Raghus.
35. Tell me O Bráhmana! if it is Lavan the son of Madhu (the notorious
Asúra) that disturbs the sacrificial rites; in that case also I will
not part with my son.
36. If it be the two sons of Sunda and Upasunda terrible as they are
like the sons of the sun, that disturb your sacrifice, in that case
also I will not give my son to thee.
37. But after all, O Bráhman, shouldest thou snatch him from me (by
dint of the supernatural power that thou possessest), then I am also
dead and gone with him. I do not see any other chance of a lasting
success of thy devotion (except by my death).
38. Saying these gentle words, the descendant of Raghu was drowned in
the sea of suspense with regard to the demand of the sage, but being
unable to arrive at a conclusion, the great king was carried away by
the current of his thoughts as one by the high waves of the sea.