Ramayana, Book IV, Canto 57: Angad’s Speechकिष्किन्धाकाण्डम्

Ralph T. H. Griffith’s English verse (1870–74), beside the Sanskrit of sarga 4.57.

57Sanskrit sarga 4.57 · Sanskrit source · English source

Sanskrit

शोकाद् भ्रष्टस्वरमपि श्रुत्वा वानरयूथपाः।
श्रद्दधुर्नैव तद्वाक्यं कर्मणा तस्य शङ्किताः॥ १॥
ते प्रायमुपविष्टास्तु दृष्ट्वा गृध्रं प्लवंगमाः।
चक्रुर्बुद्धिं तदा रौद्रां सर्वान् नो भक्षयिष्यति॥ २॥
सर्वथा प्रायमासीनान् यदि नो भक्षयिष्यति।
कृतकृत्या भविष्यामः क्षिप्रं सिद्धिमितो गताः॥ ३॥
एतां बुद्धिं ततश्चक्रुः सर्वे ते हरियूथपाः।
अवतार्य गिरेः शृङ्गाद् गृध्रमाहाङ्गदस्तदा॥ ४॥
बभूवर्क्षरजो नाम वानरेन्द्रः प्रतापवान्।
ममार्यः पार्थिवः पक्षिन् धार्मिकौ तस्य चात्मजौ॥ ५॥
सुग्रीवश्चैव वाली च पुत्रौ घनबलावुभौ।
लोके विश्रुतकर्माभूद् राजा वाली पिता मम॥ ६॥
राजा कृत्स्नस्य जगत इक्ष्वाकूणां महारथः।
रामो दाशरथिः श्रीमान् प्रविष्टो दण्डकावनम्॥ ७॥
लक्ष्मणेन सह भ्रात्रा वैदेह्या सह भार्यया।
पितुर्निदेशनिरतो धर्मं पन्थानमाश्रितः॥ ८॥
तस्य भार्या जनस्थानाद् रावणेन हृता बलात्।
रामस्य तु पितुर्मित्रं जटायुर्नाम गृध्रराट्॥ ९॥
ददर्श सीतां वैदेहीं ह्रियमाणां विहायसा।
रावणं विरथं कृत्वा स्थापयित्वा च मैथिलीम्।
परिश्रान्तश्च वृद्धश्च रावणेन हतो रणे॥ १०॥
एवं गृध्रो हतस्तेन रावणेन बलीयसा।
संस्कृतश्चापि रामेण जगाम गतिमुत्तमाम्॥ ११॥
ततो मम पितृव्येण सुग्रीवेण महात्मना।
चकार राघवः सख्यं सोऽवधीत् पितरं मम॥ १२॥
मम पित्रा निरुद्धो हि सुग्रीवः सचिवैः सह।
निहत्य वालिनं रामस्ततस्तमभिषेचयत्॥ १३॥
स राज्ये स्थापितस्तेन सुग्रीवो वानरेश्वरः।
राजा वानरमुख्यानां तेन प्रस्थापिता वयम्॥ १४॥
एवं रामप्रयुक्तास्तु मार्गमाणास्ततस्ततः।
वैदेहीं नाधिगच्छामो रात्रौ सूर्यप्रभामिव॥ १५॥
ते वयं दण्डकारण्यं विचित्य सुसमाहिताः।
अज्ञानात् तु प्रविष्टाः स्म धरण्या विवृतं बिलम्॥ १६॥
मयस्य मायाविहितं तद् बिलं च विचिन्वताम्।
व्यतीतस्तत्र नो मासो यो राज्ञा समयः कृतः॥ १७॥
ते वयं कपिराजस्य सर्वे वचनकारिणः।
कृतां संस्थामतिक्रान्ता भयात् प्रायमुपासिताः॥ १८॥
क्रुद्धे तस्मिंस्तु काकुत्स्थे सुग्रीवे च सलक्ष्मणे।
गतानामपि सर्वेषां तत्र नो नास्ति जीवितम्॥ १९॥

English Griffith

Though grief and woe his utterance broke
They trusted not the words he spoke;
But, looking still for secret guile,
Reflected in their hearts a while:
“If on our mangled limbs he feed,
We gain the death ourselves decreed.”

Then rose the Vánar chiefs, and lent
Their arms to aid the bird’s descent;
And Angad spake: “There lived of yore
A noble Vánar king who bore
The name of Riksharajas, great
And brave and strong and fortunate.
His sons were like their father: fame
Knows Báli and Sugríva’s name.
Praised in all lands, a glorious king
Was Báli, and from him I spring.
Brave Ráma, Daśaratha’s heir,
A glorious prince beyond compare,
His sire and duty’s law obeyed,
And sought the depths of Daṇḍak’ shade
Sítá his well-beloved dame,
And Lakshmaṇ, with the wanderer came.
A giant watched his hour, and stole
The sweet delight of Ráma’s soul.
Jaṭáyus, Daśaratha’s friend,
Swift succour to the dame would lend.
Fierce Rávaṇ from his car he felled,
And for a time the prize withheld.
But bleeding, weak with years, and tired,
Beneath the demon’s blows expired,
Due rites at Ráma’s hands obtained,
And bliss that ne’er shall minish, gained.
Then Ráma with Sugríva made
A covenant for mutual aid,
And Báli, to the field defied,
By conquering Ráma’s arrow died.
Sugríva then, by Ráma’s grace,
Was monarch of the Vánar race.
By his command a mighty host
Seeks Ráma’s queen from coast to coast.
Sent forth by him, in every spot
We looked for her, but find her not.
Vain is the toil, as though by night
We sought to find the Day-God’s light.
In lands unknown at length we found
A spacious cavern under ground,
Whose vaults that stretch beneath the hill
Were formed by Maya’s magic skill.
Through the dark maze our steps were bent,
And wandering there a month we spent,
And lost, in fruitless error, thus
The days our king allotted us.
Thus we though faithful have transgressed,
And failed to keep our lord’s behest.
No chance of safety can we see,
No lingering hope of life have we.
Sugríva’s wrath and Ráma’s hate
Press on our souls with grievous weight:
And we, because ’tis vain to fly,
Resolve at length to fast and die.”