"Above the stretch of mortal ken,
On bless'd _Cailasa's_ top, where every stem
Glow'd with a vegetable gem,
Mahe'sa stood, the dread and joy of men;
While Párvati, to gain a boon,
Fix'd on his locks a beamy moon,
And hid his frontal eye, in jocund play,
With reluctant sweet delay.
All nature straight was lock'd in dim eclipse,
Till _Brahmans_ pure, with hallow'd lips,
And warbled prayers, restored the day;
When Ganga from his brow, by heavenly fingers press'd,
Sprang radiant, and, descending, graced the caverns of the west."
The descent of the Ganges is related in the Ramayuna, one of the most
celebrated of the sacred books of the Bramins. This work the excellent
and learned Baptist missionaries at Serampore are at this time
employed in printing and translating; one volume has arrived in {210}
Europe, and from it I am tempted here to insert an extract of
considerable length. The reader will be less disposed to condemn the
fictions of Kehama as extravagant, when he compares them with this
genuine specimen of Hindoo fable. He will perceive, too, that no undue
importance has been attributed to the Horse of the Sacrifice in the
Poem.
"The son of Kooshika having, in mellifluous accents, related these
things to Rama, again addressed the descendant of Kakootitha.
Formerly, O hero! there was a king of Hyoodhya, named Sagura, the
Sovereign of Men, virtuous, desirous of children, but childless; O
Rama! the daughter of Vidurbhakeshinee, virtuous, attached to truth,
was his chief consort, and the daughter of Urishtunemi, Soomuti,
unequalled in beauty, his second spouse. With these two consorts, the
great king, going to Himuvat, engaged in sacred austerities on the
mountain in whose sacred stream Bhrigoo constantly bathed. A hundred
years being completed, the sage Bhrigoo, clothed with truth, rendered
propitious by his austerities, granted him this blessing: O sinless
One! thou shalt obtain a most numerous progeny; thy fame, O chief of
men! will be unparalleled in the universe. From one of thy consorts, O
sire! shall spring the founder of thy race, and, from the other, sixty
thousand sons.
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"The queens, pleased, approached the chief of men who was thus
speaking, and, with hands respectfully joined, asked, O Brahman!
whose shall be the one son, and who shall produce the multitude? We, O
Brahman! desire to hear. May thy words be verified. Hearing their
request, the most virtuous Bhrigoo replied in these admirable words:
Freely say which of these favours ye desire, whether the one, founder
of the family, or the multitude of valiant, renowned, energetic sons.
O Rama! son of Rughoo, Keshinee hearing the words of the sage, in the
presence of the king accepted the one son, the founder of the family;
and Soomuti, sister of Soopurna, accepted the sixty thousand sons,
active and renowned. The king, O son of Rughoo! having respectfully
circumambulated the sage, bowing the head, returned with his spouses
to his own city.
"After some time had elapsed, his eldest spouse Keshinee bore to
Sugura a son, named Usumunja; and Soomuti, O chief of men! brought
forth a gourd, from which, on its being opened, came forth sixty
thousand sons. These, carefully brought up by their nurses, in jars
filled with clarified butter, in process of time attained the state of
youth;[4] and, after a long period, the {212} sixty thousand sons
of Sugura, possessed of youth and beauty, became men. The eldest son,
the offspring of Sugura, O son of Rughoo! chief of men, seizing
children, would throw them into the waters of the Suruyoo, and sport
himself with their drowning pangs. This evil person, the distresser of
good men, devoted to the injury of the citizens, was by his father
expelled from the city. The son of Usumunja, the heroic Ungshooman, in
conversation courteous and affectionate, was esteemed by all.
"After a long time, O chief of men! Sugura formed the steady resolve,
"I will perform a sacrifice." Versed in the Veda, the king, attended
by his instructors, having determined the things relating to the
sacrificial work, began to prepare the sacrifice.
"Hearing the words of Vishwa-mitra, the son of Rughoo, highly
gratified in the midst of the story, addressed the sage, bright as the
ardent flame, Peace be to Thee: I desire, O Brahman! to hear this
story at large, how my predecessors performed the sacrifice. Hearing
his words, Vishwa-mitra, smiling, pleasantly replied to Rama: {213}
"Attend, then, O Rama! to the story of Sugura, repeated at full
length. Where the great mountain Himuvat, the happy father-in-law of
Shunkura, and the mountain Bindhyo, overlooking the country around,
proudly vie with each other, there was the sacrifice of the great
Sugura performed. That land, sacred and renowned, is the habitation of
Rakshuses. At the command of Sugura, the hero Ungshooman, O Rama!
eminent in archery, a mighty charioteer, was the attendant (of the
horse.[5]) While the king was performing the sacrifice, a serpent,
assuming the form of Ununta, rose from the earth, and seized the
sacrificial horse. The sacrificial victim being stolen, all the
priests, O son of Rughoo! going to the king, said, Thy consecrated
horse has been stolen by some one in the form of a serpent. Kill the
thief, and bring back the sacred horse. This interruption in the
sacrifice portends evil to us all. Take those steps, O king! which may
lead to the completion of the sacrifice. Having heard the advice of
his instructors, the king, calling his sixty thousand sons into the
assembly, said, I perceive that the Rakshuses have not been to this
great sacrifice. A sacrifice of the Nagas is now performing by the
sages, and some god, in the form of a serpent, {214} has stolen the
devoted horse. Whoever he be, who, at the time of the Deeksha, has
been the cause of this afflictive circumstance, this unhappy event,
whether he be gone to Patala, or whether he remain in the waters, kill
him, O sons! and bring back my victim. May success attend you, O my
sons! At my command traverse the sea-girt earth, digging with mighty
labour, till you obtain a sight of the horse; each one piercing the
earth to the depth of a yojunga, go you in search of him who stole the
sacred horse. Being consecrated by the Deeksha, I, with my grandson
and my teachers, will remain with the sacrifice unfinished, till I
again behold my devoted horse.
"Thus instructed by their father Sugura, they, in obedience to him,
went with cheerful mind, O Rama! to the bottom of the earth. The
strong ones, having gone over the earth without obtaining a sight of
the horse, each of these mighty men pierced the earth, to the depth of
a yojuna, with their mighty arm, the stroke of which resembled the
thunder-bolt. Pierced by Kooddalas,[6] by Purighas,[7] by
Shoolas,[8] by Mooshulas,[9] {215} and Shuktis,[10] the
earth cried out as in darkness. Then arose, O Raghuva! a dreadful cry
of the serpents, the Usooras, the Rakshuses, and other creatures, as
of beings suffering death. These angry youths, O son of Rughoo! dug
the earth even to Patala, to the extent of sixty thousand yojunas.
Thus, O prince! the sons of the sovereign of men traversed
Jumboodweepa, inclosed with mountains, digging wherever they came. The
gods now, with the Gundburwas and the great serpents, struck with
astonishment, went all of them to Bruhma, and, bowing even to the foot
of the great spirit, they, full of terror, with dejected countenance,
addressed him thus: "O Deva! O divine One! the whole earth, covered
with mountains and woods, with rivers and continents, the sons of
Sugura are now digging up. By these digging, O Bruhma! the mightiest
beings are killed. This is the stealer of our consecrated victims; by
this (fellow) our horse was taken away:" Thus saying, these sons of
Sugura destroy all creatures. O most powerful! having heard this, it
becomes thee to interpose, before these horse-seekers destroy all thy
creatures endued with life."
Thus far the thirty-second Section, describing the digging of earth.
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