Book 4 — Canto XL. The Army Of The East.

With practised eye the king reviewed

The Vánars' countless multitude,

And, joying that his hest was done,

Thus spake to Raghu's mighty son:

“See, all the Vánar hosts who fear

My sovereign might are gathered here.

Chiefs strong as Indra's self, who speed

Wher'er they list, these armies lead.

Fierce and terrific to the view

As Daityas or the Dánav659 crew,

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Famed in all lands for souls afire

With lofty thoughts, they never tire,

O'er hill and vale they wander free,

And islets of the distant sea.

And these gathered myriads, all

Will serve thee, Ráma, at thy call.

Whate'er thy heart advises, say:

Thy mandates will the host obey.”

Then answered Ráma, as he pressed

The Vánar monarch to his breast:

“O search for my lost Sítá, strive

To find her if she still survive:

And in thy wondrous wisdom trace

Fierce Rávaṇ to his dwelling-place.

And when by toil and search we know

Where Sítá lies and where the foe,

With thee, dear friend, will I devise

Fit means to end the enterprise.

Not mine, not Lakshmaṇ's is the power

To guide us in the doubtful hour.

Thou, sovereign of the Vánars, thou

Must be our hope and leader now.”

He ceased: at King Sugríva's call

Near came a Vánar strong and tall.

Huge as a towering mountain, loud

As some tremendous thunder cloud,

A prince who warlike legions led:

To him his sovereign turned and said:

“Go, take ten thousand660 of our race

Well trained in lore of time and place,

And search the eastern region; through

Groves, woods, and hills thy way pursue.

There seek for Sítá, trace the spot

Where Rávaṇ hides, and weary not.

Search for the captive in the caves

Of mountains, and by woods and waves.

To Sarjú,661 Kauśikí,662 repair,

Bhagírath's daughter663 fresh and fair.

Search mighty Yamun's664 peak, explore

Swift Yamuná's665 delightful shore,

Sarasvati666 and Sindhu's667 tide,

And rapid Śona's668 pebbly side.

Then roam afar by Mahí's669 bed

Where Kálamahí's groves are spread.

Go where the silken tissue shines,

Go to the land of silver mines.670

Visit each isle and mountain steep

And city circled by the deep,

And distant villages that high

About the peaks of Mandar lie.

Speed over Yavadwipa's land,671

And see Mount Śiśir672 proudly stand

Uplifting to the skies his head

By Gods and Dánavs visited.

Search each ravine and mountain pass,

Each tangled thicket deep in grass.

Search every cave with utmost care

If haply Ráma's queen be there.

Then pass beyond the sounding sea

Where heavenly beings wander free,

And Śona's673 waters swift and strong

With ruddy billows foam along.

Search where his shelving banks descend,

Search where the hanging woods extend.

Try if the pathless thickets screen

The robber and the captive queen.

Search where the torrent floods that rend

The mountain to the plains descend:

Search dark abysses where they rave,

Search mountain slope and wood and cave

Then on with rapid feet and gain

The inlands of the fearful main

Where, tortured by the tempest's lash,

Against rude rocks the billows dash:

An ocean like a sable cloud,

Whose margent monstrous serpents crowd:

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An ocean rising with a roar

To beat upon an iron shore.

On, onward still! your feet shall tread

Shores of the sea whose waves are red,

Where spreading wide your eyes shall see

The guilt-tormenting cotton tree674

And the wild spot where Garuḍ675 dwells

Which gems adorn and ocean shells,

High as Kailása, nobly decked,

Wrought by the heavenly architect.676

Huge giants named Mandehas677 there

In each foul shape they love to wear,

Numbing the soul with terror's chill,

Hang from the summit of the hill.

When darts the sun his earliest beam

They plunge them in the ocean stream,

New vigour from his rays obtain,

And hang upon the rocks again.

Speed onward still: your steps shall be

At length beside the Milky Sea

Whose every ripple as it curls

Gleams glorious with its wealth of pearls.

Amid that sea like pale clouds spread

The white Mount Rishabh678 rears his head.

About the mountain's glorious waist

Woods redolent of bloom are braced.

A lake where lotuses unfold

Their silver buds with threads of gold,

Sudarśan ever bright and fair

Where white swans sport, lies gleaming there,

The wandering Kinnar's679 dear resort,

Where heavenly nymphs and Yakshas680 sport.

On! leave the Milky Sea behind:

Another flood your search shall find,

A waste of waters, wild and drear,

That chills each living heart with fear.

There see the horse's awful head,

Wrath-born, that flames in Ocean's bed.681

There rises up a fearful cry

From the sea things that move thereby,

When, helpless, powerless for flight,

They gaze upon the horrid sight.

Past to the northern shore, and then

Beyond the flood three leagues and ten

Your wondering glances will behold

Mount Játarúpa682 bright with gold.

There like the young moon pale of hue

The monstrous serpent683 will ye view,

The earth's supporter, whose bright eyes

Resemble lotus leaves in size.

He rests upon the mountain's brow,

And all the Gods before him bow.

Ananta with a thousand heads

His length in robes of azure spreads.

A triple-headed palm of gold—

Meet standard for the lofty-souled—

Springs towering from the mountain's crest

Beneath whose shade he loves to rest,

So that in eastern realms each God

May use it as a measuring-rod.

Beyond, with burning gold aglow,

The eastern steep his peaks will show,

Which in unrivalled glory rise

A hundred leagues to pierce the skies,

And all the neighbouring air is bright

With golden trees that clothe the height.

A lofty peak uprises there

Ten leagues in height and one league square

Saumanas, wrought of glistering gold,

Ne'er to be loosened from its hold.

There his first step Lord Vishṇu placed

When through the universe he paced,

And with his second lightly pressed

The loftiest peak of Meru's crest.

When north of Jambudwíp684 the sun

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A portion of his course has run,

And hangs above this mountain height,

Then creatures see the genial light.

Vaikhánases,685 saints far renowned,

And Bálakhilyas686 love the ground

Where in their glory half divine,

Touched by the morning glow, they shine

The light that flashes from that steep

Illumines all Sudarśandwíp,687

And on each creature, as it glows,

The sight and strength of life bestows.

Search well that mountain's woody side

If Rávaṇ there his captive hide.

The rising sun, the golden hill

The air with growing splendours fill,

Till flashes from the east the red

Of morning with the light they shed.

This, where the sun begins his state,

Is earth and heaven's most eastern gate.

Through all the mountain forest seek

By waterfall and cave and peak.

Search every nook and bosky dell,

If Rávaṇ there with Sítá dwell.

There, Vánars, there your steps must stay:

No farther eastward can ye stray.

Beyond no sun, no moon gives light,

But all is sunk in endless night.

Thus far, O Vánar lords, may you

O'er sea and land your search pursue.

But wild and dark and known to none

Is the drear space beyond the sun.

That mountain whence the sun ascends

Your long and weary journey ends.688

Now go, and in a month return,

And let success my praises earn.

He who beyond tho month shall stay

Will with his life the forfeit pay.”