The following are some specimens of songs sung at weddings. The first
is about Rama's departure from Ajodhia when he went to the forests:
Now Hari (Rama) has driven his chariot forth to the jungle.
His father and mother are weeping.
Kaushilya [460] stood up and said, 'Now, whom shall I call my
diamond and my ruby?'
Dasrath went to the tower of his palace to see his son;
As Rama's chariot set forth under the shade of the trees, he
wished that he might die.
Bharat ran after his brother with naked feet.
He said, 'Oh brother, you are going to the forest, to whom do
you give the kingdom of Oudh?'
Rama said, 'When fourteen years have passed away I shall come
back from the jungles. Till then I give the kingdom to you.'
The following is a love dialogue:
Make a beautiful garden for me to see my king.
In that garden what flowers shall I set?
Lemons, oranges, pomegranates, figs.
In that garden what music shall there be?
A tambourine, a fiddle, a guitar and a dancing girl.
In that garden what attendants shall there be?
A writer, a supervisor, a secretary for writing letters. [461]
The next is a love-song by a woman:
How has your countenance changed, my lord?
Why speak you not to your slave?
If I were a deer in the forest and you a famous warrior, would
you not shoot me with your gun?
If I were a fish in the water and you the son of a fisherman,
would you not catch me with your drag-net?
If I were a cuckoo in the garden and you the gardener's son,
would you not trap me with your liming-stick?
The last is a dialogue between Radha and Krishna. Radha with her
maidens was bathing in the river when Krishna stole all their clothes
and climbed up a tree with them. Girdhari is a name of Krishna:
R. You and I cannot be friends, Girdhari; I am wearing a
silk-embroidered cloth and you a black blanket.
You are the son of old Nand, the shepherd, and I am a princess
of Mathura.
You have taken my clothes and climbed up a kadamb tree. I am
naked in the river.
K. I will not give you your clothes till you come out of the water.
R. If I come out of the water the people will laugh and clap at me.
All my companions seeing your beauty say, 'You have vanquished us;
we are overcome.'