Ramayana · Book V · Sundara Kāṇḍa
Ramayana, Book V, Canto 45: The Seven Defeatedसुन्दरकाण्डम्
Ralph T. H. Griffith’s English verse (1870–74), beside the Sanskrit of sarga 5.45.
Sanskrit
निर्ययुर्भवनात् तस्मात् सप्त सप्तार्चिवर्चसः॥ १॥
महद्बलपरीवारा धनुष्मन्तो महाबलाः।
कृतास्त्रास्त्रविदां श्रेष्ठाः परस्परजयैषिणः॥ २॥
हेमजालपरिक्षिप्तैर्ध्वजवद्भिः पताकिभिः।
तोयदस्वननिर्घोषैर्वाजियुक्तैर्महारथैः॥ ३॥
तप्तकाञ्चनचित्राणि चापान्यमितविक्रमाः।
विस्फारयन्तः संहृष्टास्तडिद्वन्त इवाम्बुदाः॥ ४॥
जनन्यस्तास्ततस्तेषां विदित्वा किंकरान् हतान्।
बभूवुः शोकसम्भ्रान्ताः सबान्धवसुहृज्जनाः॥ ५॥
ते परस्परसंघर्षात् तप्तकाञ्चनभूषणाः।
अभिपेतुर्हनूमन्तं तोरणस्थमवस्थितम्॥ ६॥
सृजन्तो बाणवृष्टिं ते रथगर्जितनिःस्वनाः।
प्रावृट्काल इवाम्भोदा विचेरुर्नैर्ऋताम्बुदाः॥ ७॥
अवकीर्णस्ततस्ताभिर्हनूमान् शरवृष्टिभिः।
अभवत् संवृताकारः शैलराडिव वृष्टिभिः॥ ८॥
स शरान् वञ्चयामास तेषामाशुचरः कपिः।
रथवेगांश्च वीराणां विचरन् विमलेऽम्बरे॥ ९॥
स तैः क्रीडन् धनुष्मद्भिर्व्योम्नि वीरः प्रकाशते।
धनुष्मद्भिर्यथा मेघैर्मारुतः प्रभुरम्बरे॥ १०॥
स कृत्वा निनदं घोरं त्रासयंस्तां महाचमूम्।
चकार हनुमान् वेगं तेषु रक्षःसु वीर्यवान्॥ ११॥
तलेनाभिहनत् कांश्चित् पादैः कांश्चित् परंतपः।
मुष्टिभिश्चाहनत् कांश्चिन्नखैः कांश्चिद् व्यदारयत्॥ १२॥
प्रममाथोरसा कांश्चिदूरुभ्यामपरानपि।
केचित् तस्यैव नादेन तत्रैव पतिता भुवि॥ १३॥
ततस्तेष्ववसन् नेषु भूमौ निपतितेषु च।
तत्सैन्यमगमत् सर्वं दिशो दश भयार्दितम्॥ १४॥
विनेदुर्विस्वरं नागा निपेतुर्भुवि वाजिनः।
भग्ननीडध्वजच्छत्रैर्भूश्च कीर्णाभवद् रथैः॥ १५॥
स्रवता रुधिरेणाथ स्रवन्त्यो दर्शिताः पथि।
विविधैश्च स्वनैर्लङ्का ननाद विकृतं तदा॥ १६॥
स तान् प्रवृद्धान् विनिहत्य राक्षसान्
महाबलश्चण्डपराक्रमः कपिः।
युयुत्सुरन्यैः पुनरेव राक्षसै-
स्तदेव वीरोऽभिजगाम तोरणम्॥ १७॥
English Griffith
Forth went the seven in brave attire,
In glory brilliant as the fire,
Impetuous chiefs with massive bows,
The quellers of a host of foes:
Trained from their youth in martial lore,
And masters of the arms they bore:
Each emulous and fiercely bold,
And banners wrought with glittering gold
Waved o’er their chariots, drawn at speed
By coursers of the noblest breed.
On through the ruins of the grove
At Hanumán they fiercely drove,
And from the ponderous bows they strained
A shower of deadly arrows rained.
Then scarce was seen the Vánar’s form
Enveloped in the arrowy storm.
So stands half veiled the Mountains’ King
When rainy clouds about him cling.
By nimble turn, by rapid bound
He shunned the shafts that rained around,
Eluding, as in air he rose,
The rushing chariots of his foes.
The mighty Vánar undismayed
Amid his archer foemen played,
As plays the frolic wind on high
Mid bow-armed876 clouds that fill the sky.
He raised a mighty roar and yell
That fear on all the army fell,
And then, his warrior soul aglow
With fury, rushed upon the foe,
Some with his open hand he beat
To death and trampled with his feet;
Some with fierce nails he rent and slew,
And others with his fists o’erthrew;
Some with his legs, as on he rushed,
Some with his bulky chest he crushed;
While some struck senseless by his roar
Dropped on the ground and breathed no more,
The remnant, seized with sudden dread,
Turned from the grove and wildly fled.
The trampled earth was thickly strown
With steed and car and flag o’erthrown,
And the red blood in rivers flowed
From slaughtered fiends o’er path and road.
Griffith’s notes (1)
- Armed with the bow of Indra, the rainbow.