CONSOLATION OF RÁMA.
Viswámitra said:—If such is the case, you who are intelligent, may go
at once, and persuade that progeny of Raghu to come hither; as they do
one deer by others (of the train).
2. This stupor of Ráma is not caused by any (external) accident or
(inward) affection; it is I think the development of that superior
intellect which rises from the right reasoning of dispassionate men.
3. Let Ráma come here for a while, and here shall we in a moment dispel
the delusion (of his mind), as the wind drives away the clouds from the
mountain-tops.
4. After his hebetude is removed by my reasoning, he shall be enabled
to repose in that happy state of mind, to which we have arrived.
5. He shall not only attain to pure truth and a clear understanding
of uninterrupted tranquility, but secure to himself a plumpness and
beauteousness of his figure and complexion, as one derives from a
potion of ambrosia.
6. He will then attend with all his heart to the full discharge of the
proper course of his duties without remission, which will redound to
his honour.
7. He will become strong with a knowledge of both worlds, and his
exemption from the states of pleasure and pain, and then he will look
upon gold and stones with an indifferent eye.
8. After the chief of the sages had spoken in this manner, the king
resumed the firmness of his mind, and sent heralds after heralds to
bring Ráma to him.
9. By this very time Ráma was preparing to rise from his seat in the
palace to come over to his father, in the manner that the sun rises
from the mountain in the east.
10. Surrounded by a few of his servants, he came with his two brothers
to the hallowed hall of his father, resembling the heaven of the king
of gods.
11. He saw at a distance his kingly sire seated amidst the assemblage
of princes, as Indra surrounded by the gods.
12. He was accompanied on either side by the sages Vasishtha and
Viswámitra, and respectfully attended by his staff of ministers, all
well versed in the interpretation of all Sástras.
13. He was fanned by charming damsels, waving the fine _chauri_
flappers in their hands, and equalling in beauty the goddesses
presiding over the quarters of heaven.
14. Vasishtha, Viswámitra and the other sages, with Dasaratha and his
chiefs, saw Ráma coming at a distance as beautiful as Skanda himself.
15. He appeared by his qualities of mildness and gravity to resemble
the mount Himálaya (with his cooling frost and firmness), and was
esteemed by all for the depth and clearness (of his understanding).
16. He was handsome and well proportioned (in his features), auspicious
in his look, but humble and magnanimous in his mind. With loveliness
and mildness of his person, he was possessed of all manly prowess.
17. He was just developed to youth, yet he was as majestic as an
elderly man. He was neither morose nor merry, but seemed to be fully
satisfied with himself, as if he had obtained all the objects of his
desire.
18. He was a good judge of the world, and possessed of all holy
virtues. The purity of his mind was the attraction for all the virtues
which met in him.
19. The receptacle of his mind was filled by his magnanimity and
honourable virtues, and the candour of his conduct showed him in the
light of perfection (to every body).
20. Endowed with these various virtues and decorated by his necklace
and fine apparel, Ráma the support of Raghu’s race, approached (his
father) with a smiling countenance.
21. He bowed his head to his father with the sparkling gems trembling
in his locks, and imparting to his head the graceful appearance of the
mountain _Sumeru_ shaken by an earth-quake.
22. The lotus-eyed Ráma came up to salute the feet of his father, when
the lord of the sages (Viswámitra) was speaking with him.
23. First of all Ráma saluted his father, and then the two honorable
sages, he next saluted the Bráhmanas, and then his relations, and
lastly his elders and well wishing friends.
24. He then received and returned the salutations of the chiefs
and princes, bowing to him with graceful motion of their heads and
respectful addresses.
25. Ráma of god-like beauty and equanimity of mind, approached the
sacred presence of his father, with the blessings of the two sages.
26. During the act of his saluting the feet of his father, the lord of
the earth repeatedly kissed his head and face, and embraced him with
fondness.
27. At the same time, he the destroyer of his enemies, embraced
Lakshmana and Satrughna, with as intense an affection as the swan
embracing the lotus flowers.
28. “Be you seated my son upon my lap”, said the king to Ráma, who
however, took his seat on a fine piece of cloth spread on the floor by
his servants.
29. The king said “O my son and receptacle of blessings, you have
attained the age of discretion, so put not yourself to that state
of self-mortification, as the dull-headed do from their crazy
understandings.
30. “Know that it is by following the course of his elders, guides
and Bráhmanas, that one attains to meritoriousness, and not by his
persistence in error.
31. “So long will the train of our misfortunes lie at a distance, as we
do not allow the seeds of error to have access to us.”
32. Vasishtha said, Oh strong armed prince! you are truly heroic to
have conquered your worldly appetites, which are at once as difficult
to be eradicated as they are fierce in their action.
33. Why do you allow yourself like the unlearned, to be drowned in this
rolling sea of errors, causing such dull inactivity in you?
34. Viswámitra said “why are your eyes so unsteady (with doubts) as
the tremulous clusters of blue lotuses. You ought to do away with this
unsteadiness, and tell us what is that grief (which rankles) in your
mind.
35. “What are these thoughts, and what are their names and natures,
their number and causes, that infest your mind like its maladies (in
the same manner) as the mice undermine a fabric.”
36. I am disposed to think, that you are not the person to be troubled
with those evils and distempers, to which the base and vile alone are
subject.
37. Tell me the craving of your heart, O sinless Ráma! and they will be
requited in a manner, as will prevent their recurrence to you.
38. Ráma—the standard of Raghu’s race having listened to the
reasonable and graceful speech of the good-intentioned sage, shook off
his sorrowing, like the peacock at the roaring of a cloud, in the hope
of gaining his object.