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Collection: Part 10 · VIDEHA MITHILA MAITHILI DISCUSSION CRITICISM SERIES PART 10
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0:00–0:15At rise Rama is aboard the Pushpaka aerial chariot filled with compassion his sword raised. With great effort he strikes.
0:15–0:19Enter a celestial man.
0:19–0:29My right hand, strike this Shudra ascetic with the sword and restore the Brahmin's dead son to life.
0:29–0:39You are a limb of that same Rama who dared banish his own weary Sita, heavy with pregnancy.
0:39–0:43Why does compassion awaken in you now?
0:43–0:47There, you have done a deed worthy of Rama.
0:47–0:51Let the Brahmin son live.
0:51–0:56Celestial man, victory to the king.
0:56–1:03By imposing just punishment, you grant safety even from Yama himself.
1:03–1:09Because of you the child has returned to life, and I too have attained a higher state.
1:09–1:15I, Shambhuka, bow my head at your feet.
1:15–1:23Whatever comes through contact with the good, even death, brings liberation.
1:23–1:26Looks around.
1:26–1:29Both results please me.
1:29–1:33Now enjoy the fruit of your severe austerities.
1:33–1:41May the vast, radiant world of heaven, filled with joy and happiness accumulated through
1:41–1:43merit.
1:43–1:46Be yours forever.
1:46–1:53Shambhuka, I attained this exalted state by bowing at your feet, austerity had no part
1:53–1:55in it.
1:55–2:00Yet perhaps my penance did me one great service.
2:00–2:08Lord of all creatures and my refuge, I should have had to search the whole earth for you.
2:08–2:13But you yourself crossed hundreds upon hundreds of leagues.
2:13–2:21seek out a low-born man like me. Surely this was the boom granted by my penance.
2:21–2:27Otherwise why would you leave Ayodhya and return to Dandaka?
2:27–2:32Rama, what, is this the Dandaka forest?
2:32–2:41Yes. Here are soft, deep green pastures, their, harsh and terrifying ground.
2:41–2:48On every side to the horizon the roar of swift rivers echoes.
2:48–2:57Between them lie forts, hermitages, mountains, streams, caves, and woods.
2:57–3:03Yes, I know this land, the Dandika region of the Vinnyas.
3:03–3:09This is certainly the Dandika forest.
3:09–3:18They say that when your majesty lived here, you slew 14,000 fearsome roxas as in battle,
3:18–3:22and three more to Dachana, Kora, and Tresheras.
3:22–3:31Thus Janastana became holy ground, where even timid people like me could move in safety.
3:31–3:38What, not only Dandika, but Janastana too?
3:38–3:41Yes, certainly.
3:41–3:47The vast forest stretching south from Janastana, with its lots of mountain caves full of parks
3:47–3:53of savage wild dogs, makes anyone's hair stand on end.
3:53–3:57In some places the land is silent as death.
3:57–4:00Elsewhere wild beasts howl.
4:00–4:07The heaths of Enomas, the dreadful snakes lying quietly asleep seems to kindle fire.
4:07–4:12There is chaos afound only in deep fishes.
4:12–4:18Thirsty lizards drink the sweat from sapon's bux.
4:18–4:20Looks around.
4:20–4:24His eyes fill with tears.
4:24–4:30As I gaze upon Janisthana, the dwelling place of Kara.
4:30–4:35Old events seem to unfold again before my eyes.
4:35–4:39How deep that his love for Rama was.
4:39–4:46God above, this very forest, what could be more terrifying.
4:46–4:51Yet she said, I will live with you in the honey-scented forest.
4:51–4:55And she was truly happy here.
4:55–4:58So profound was her love.
4:58–5:01A person need do nothing.
5:01–5:06The joy of mere companionship erases suffering.
5:06–5:12To have someone who loves you, what a great blessing.
5:12–5:16Leave memories that bring only pain.
5:16–5:22Let your majesty look toward the forest in the middle distance, quiet and grave, enclosed
5:22–5:28by mountains the color of the soft necks of peacocks in rut, adorned with clusters
5:28–5:35of trees casting dense deep shade where every kind of animal rests without fear.
5:35–5:42Here mountain streams run with clear cooling water, filled with the fragrance of flowering
5:42–5:46vines and reeds shaken by excited birds.
5:46–5:52The fierce current plunges roaring through groves of German trees,
5:52–5:55They are with ripe fruit.
5:55–6:02And father, there are caves in the mountains where bear cubs live.
6:02–6:06Their gulls are multiplied many times by echoes.
6:06–6:14They cool to sharp astringent scent of juicy sholaki leaves, broken from their stems and
6:14–6:17scattered by elephants.
6:17–6:21Also tickens within the caves.
6:21–6:24His voice breaking with psalms.
6:24–6:29Good sir, may your journey be blessed.
6:29–6:36Travel by the celestial path and attain the worlds of the virtuous.
6:36–6:39Exit Shambhuka.
6:39–6:47After going to the ancient Brahmashya Gastia, I shall enter the eternal abode.
6:47–6:49He looks.
6:49–6:52In anguish.
6:52–6:56Re-enter Shambhuga
6:56–7:00Today I see again the same forest.
7:00–7:11Where many years ago I lived for so long, both as an ascetic firm in his duty and as a householder,
7:11–7:16and where I also tasted the sweetness of worldly happiness.
7:16–7:20The same mountains were peacocks called.
7:20–7:25The same forest tracks were deer roamed in rut.
7:25–7:32The same river banks, filled with lovely reeds, vines.
7:32–7:37And rushes growing in dense blue-black clusters.
7:37–7:42That mass rising in the distance like a bank of clouds.
7:42–7:47Is Mount Pasaravana, where the Godavari flows?
7:47–7:52On that mountain's high summit the king of birds once lived.
7:52–7:59And below, on the Godavari's bank, we lived happily in a leaf-thatched hut.
7:59–8:06A forest alive with calling birds and adorned with dark trees.
8:06–8:12Here is Panchavadi, whose many places witness the countless intimate conversations of our
8:12–8:13long residence.
8:13–8:21lives Vasanti, my beloved friend. But what is happening to Rama?
8:21–8:30Now, like poison that spreads slowly and suddenly reveals its violent power, or the point of
8:30–8:38an arrow lodged within and jarred by an outward blow, or an old wound in the heart's tender
8:38–8:42core that splits open after seeming healed.
8:42–8:49So my ancient grief has suddenly awakened and begun to tear me apart again.
8:49–8:53Yet I wish to see those regions that were once my friends.
8:53–8:59Ah, how greatly the face of the land has changed.
8:59–9:05Where a stream once flowed, there is now a dry riverbed.
9:05–9:09Where the trees were dense, they have thinned.
9:09–9:14And where they were sparse, they have grown thick.
9:14–9:21Seen after so many years, the forest seems entirely changed.
9:21–9:26Only the position of the mountains assures me that this is the same place.
9:26–9:35Ah, despite my reluctance, affection for Panchavadi is drawing me toward it by force.
9:35–9:42all those days with her were spent. And after we returned home this place remained the subject
9:42–9:50of constant memory and endless conversation. Now sinful Rama, having killed the one dearest
9:50–9:58to him and left himself alone. How can he look upon Panchavadi, or pass it without
9:58–10:03Shambhuka, victory to the king.
10:03–10:11Agastya, having learned from me of your arrival, sends this message, Lopamudra has made every
10:11–10:18preparation for your welcome and waits affectionately with the great sages.
10:18–10:21Please come and honor us with your presence.
10:21–10:27Afterwards, you may return swiftly to your own country in the Pushpaka and prepare
10:27–10:38for the horse sacrifice. I obey the holy sages command. Then let your majesty turn the Pushkaka
10:38–10:47this way. Panchavadi, forgive the momentary neglect Rama must show you in order to obey
10:47–10:51his elders command.
10:51–10:54Accent both.
10:54–10:58Enter to river goddesses.
10:58–11:06Look of my Lord, look! That is Mount Crunch of Water, where the harsh roar of wind through
11:06–11:15the bamboo forest, doubled by the cries of owls in lift-ost groves, silences flocks of
11:15–11:23crows, sapons hurning from branches of ancient sandalwood trees, riding fear at the cause
11:23–11:33of peacocks strutting proudly below. And father, there are the mountains of the south,
11:33–11:39in their caves the waters of the Godovery gurgle, and their summits are dark beneath clouds
11:39–11:48sacking the peaks. And there are the sacred places at the river confluences, where deep
11:48–11:56water rose under the irregular blows of waves, from currents colliding head on.
11:56–11:59End of Act 2
11:59–12:02Interlude to Act 3
12:02–12:07First River friend Morala, do you seem troubled?
12:07–12:14Morala Ttamesa, Lopamudra, wife of Agestia, has sent me with this message for our noble
12:14–12:17River Godavari.
12:17–12:22You know well that from the moment he abandoned his daughter in law, Rama has been filled
12:22–12:24with a tragic mood.
12:24–12:33His grave bearing conceals it, while acute pain smolders within him, like an earthen vessel
12:33–12:36baking among embers.
12:36–12:41The current of grief born from the calamity that befell his beloved wife, growing ever
12:41–12:49stronger without cease, has now utterly broken the aroma. The strings of my heart snap when
12:49–12:56I see him. Today he is returning to Pancho Vati to look for the last time upon the places
12:56–13:02that witnessed the intimate moments of his forest life with his wife. He is self-controlled
13:02–13:08by nature yet I fear that in such a place unbearable blows of grief will assail him
13:08–13:18at every step. God over it take heed of this. Send toward the aroma to the utmost gentleness.
13:19–13:26Abriss cooled by droplets from your waves and carrying the fragrance of lotus pollen.
13:27–13:31And when he is about to faint, he sooth his life-breath.
13:31–13:34Interlude to Act 3.
13:34–13:40Tomasa, such foresight is entirely worthy of Lopomudra's affection.
13:40–13:47Yet a more fundamental means of reviving the aroma is available even now.
13:47–13:49How?
13:49–13:51Listen.
13:51–13:56It is said that many years ago, immediately after Lokshmona abandoned her
13:56–14:01and returned from Valmiki's sacred grove, Queen Cita's labour pains began.
14:01–14:08The agony was so intense that she threw herself into the Ganges. There she gave birth to twin sons.
14:08–14:14Earth and Gonga came to her aid and took her down to the Netherworld. When the boys were weaned,
14:14–14:20Goddess Gonga herself entrusted them to the care of the great sage descended from Prashtas.
14:20–14:23Innastonishment!
14:23–14:28Even the calamities of such a woman become occasions for pure wonder.
14:28–14:33for divine powers such as these come to her aid.
14:33–14:37They turn and exit together.
14:37–14:42Nalbhagarata learned from Sarayu that Dear Rama might have come to Janasthana because
14:42–14:44of the affair of Shambhuka.
14:44–14:48She too was seized by the same tender concern as Lopamudra.
14:48–14:53So, on the pretext of performing a right to ward off evil, she came with Sita to
14:53–14:55visit the Godavari.
14:55–14:57to act three.
14:57–15:01Murala, Gonga's foresight was wise.
15:01–15:06As long as King Rama remained in the capital, occupied with the many urgent affairs of his
15:06–15:10subjects, his attention was necessarily divided.
15:10–15:16But now, with no diversion and no companion but grief, returning to Panchavati is dangerous.
15:16–15:19Can Queen Sita somehow console dear Rama?
15:19–15:24To Mara, Goddess Bagarate has already considered this.
15:24–15:29She said to Sita, daughter Sita, born from the sacrificial ground, today the tally of
15:29–15:34the birth years of Kusha and Lava, may they live forever, has reached twelve.
15:34–15:39Therefore, gather flowers with your own hands and worship the stainless sun, first ancestor
15:39–15:45of humankind, founder of your son's royal line, and your primordial father-in-law.
15:45–15:50By my power, not merely human beings, but even gods upon earth will be unable to
15:50–15:52perceive your presence.
15:52–15:58When she commanded me, Thermesa, daughter Jonaki, my daughter-in-law, holds you in special
15:58–16:01affection, therefore you must attend her.
16:01–16:03I am now carrying out that command.
16:03–16:08Murala, I shall tell Lopamudra of this plan.
16:08–16:11It seems dear Rama himself has arrived.
16:11–16:16Tamasa, and there, emerging from a pool of the Godavari.
16:16–16:18Interlude to Act 3.
16:18–16:21Her face veiled by dishevelled hair.
16:21–16:27lovely are by pale and hollow cheeks. The image of compassion, the embodied pain of separation
16:27–16:28from love.
16:28–16:31Joniki is entering the forest.
16:31–16:34Murala, yes, it must be she.
16:34–16:37Like a tender shoot cut from its stem.
16:37–16:42The heat of long, harsh grief has dried the flower of her heart.
16:42–16:45As autumn heat dries the leaf of a ketoki bud.
16:45–16:48Her pale, wasted body has withered.
16:48–16:49of the interlude.

Plain text

At rise Rama is aboard the Pushpaka aerial chariot filled with compassion his sword raised. With great effort he strikes. Enter a celestial man. My right hand, strike this Shudra ascetic with the sword and restore the Brahmin's dead son to life. You are a limb of that same Rama who dared banish his own weary Sita, heavy with pregnancy. Why does compassion awaken in you now? There, you have done a deed worthy of Rama. Let the Brahmin son live. Celestial man, victory to the king. By imposing just punishment, you grant safety even from Yama himself. Because of you the child has returned to life, and I too have attained a higher state. I, Shambhuka, bow my head at your feet. Whatever comes through contact with the good, even death, brings liberation. Looks around. Both results please me. Now enjoy the fruit of your severe austerities. May the vast, radiant world of heaven, filled with joy and happiness accumulated through merit. Be yours forever. Shambhuka, I attained this exalted state by bowing at your feet, austerity had no part in it. Yet perhaps my penance did me one great service. Lord of all creatures and my refuge, I should have had to search the whole earth for you. But you yourself crossed hundreds upon hundreds of leagues. seek out a low-born man like me. Surely this was the boom granted by my penance. Otherwise why would you leave Ayodhya and return to Dandaka? Rama, what, is this the Dandaka forest? Yes. Here are soft, deep green pastures, their, harsh and terrifying ground. On every side to the horizon the roar of swift rivers echoes. Between them lie forts, hermitages, mountains, streams, caves, and woods. Yes, I know this land, the Dandika region of the Vinnyas. This is certainly the Dandika forest. They say that when your majesty lived here, you slew 14,000 fearsome roxas as in battle, and three more to Dachana, Kora, and Tresheras. Thus Janastana became holy ground, where even timid people like me could move in safety. What, not only Dandika, but Janastana too? Yes, certainly. The vast forest stretching south from Janastana, with its lots of mountain caves full of parks of savage wild dogs, makes anyone's hair stand on end. In some places the land is silent as death. Elsewhere wild beasts howl. The heaths of Enomas, the dreadful snakes lying quietly asleep seems to kindle fire. There is chaos afound only in deep fishes. Thirsty lizards drink the sweat from sapon's bux. Looks around. His eyes fill with tears. As I gaze upon Janisthana, the dwelling place of Kara. Old events seem to unfold again before my eyes. How deep that his love for Rama was. God above, this very forest, what could be more terrifying. Yet she said, I will live with you in the honey-scented forest. And she was truly happy here. So profound was her love. A person need do nothing. The joy of mere companionship erases suffering. To have someone who loves you, what a great blessing. Leave memories that bring only pain. Let your majesty look toward the forest in the middle distance, quiet and grave, enclosed by mountains the color of the soft necks of peacocks in rut, adorned with clusters of trees casting dense deep shade where every kind of animal rests without fear. Here mountain streams run with clear cooling water, filled with the fragrance of flowering vines and reeds shaken by excited birds. The fierce current plunges roaring through groves of German trees, They are with ripe fruit. And father, there are caves in the mountains where bear cubs live. Their gulls are multiplied many times by echoes. They cool to sharp astringent scent of juicy sholaki leaves, broken from their stems and scattered by elephants. Also tickens within the caves. His voice breaking with psalms. Good sir, may your journey be blessed. Travel by the celestial path and attain the worlds of the virtuous. Exit Shambhuka. After going to the ancient Brahmashya Gastia, I shall enter the eternal abode. He looks. In anguish. Re-enter Shambhuga Today I see again the same forest. Where many years ago I lived for so long, both as an ascetic firm in his duty and as a householder, and where I also tasted the sweetness of worldly happiness. The same mountains were peacocks called. The same forest tracks were deer roamed in rut. The same river banks, filled with lovely reeds, vines. And rushes growing in dense blue-black clusters. That mass rising in the distance like a bank of clouds. Is Mount Pasaravana, where the Godavari flows? On that mountain's high summit the king of birds once lived. And below, on the Godavari's bank, we lived happily in a leaf-thatched hut. A forest alive with calling birds and adorned with dark trees. Here is Panchavadi, whose many places witness the countless intimate conversations of our long residence. lives Vasanti, my beloved friend. But what is happening to Rama? Now, like poison that spreads slowly and suddenly reveals its violent power, or the point of an arrow lodged within and jarred by an outward blow, or an old wound in the heart's tender core that splits open after seeming healed. So my ancient grief has suddenly awakened and begun to tear me apart again. Yet I wish to see those regions that were once my friends. Ah, how greatly the face of the land has changed. Where a stream once flowed, there is now a dry riverbed. Where the trees were dense, they have thinned. And where they were sparse, they have grown thick. Seen after so many years, the forest seems entirely changed. Only the position of the mountains assures me that this is the same place. Ah, despite my reluctance, affection for Panchavadi is drawing me toward it by force. all those days with her were spent. And after we returned home this place remained the subject of constant memory and endless conversation. Now sinful Rama, having killed the one dearest to him and left himself alone. How can he look upon Panchavadi, or pass it without Shambhuka, victory to the king. Agastya, having learned from me of your arrival, sends this message, Lopamudra has made every preparation for your welcome and waits affectionately with the great sages. Please come and honor us with your presence. Afterwards, you may return swiftly to your own country in the Pushpaka and prepare for the horse sacrifice. I obey the holy sages command. Then let your majesty turn the Pushkaka this way. Panchavadi, forgive the momentary neglect Rama must show you in order to obey his elders command. Accent both. Enter to river goddesses. Look of my Lord, look! That is Mount Crunch of Water, where the harsh roar of wind through the bamboo forest, doubled by the cries of owls in lift-ost groves, silences flocks of crows, sapons hurning from branches of ancient sandalwood trees, riding fear at the cause of peacocks strutting proudly below. And father, there are the mountains of the south, in their caves the waters of the Godovery gurgle, and their summits are dark beneath clouds sacking the peaks. And there are the sacred places at the river confluences, where deep water rose under the irregular blows of waves, from currents colliding head on. End of Act 2 Interlude to Act 3 First River friend Morala, do you seem troubled? Morala Ttamesa, Lopamudra, wife of Agestia, has sent me with this message for our noble River Godavari. You know well that from the moment he abandoned his daughter in law, Rama has been filled with a tragic mood. His grave bearing conceals it, while acute pain smolders within him, like an earthen vessel baking among embers. The current of grief born from the calamity that befell his beloved wife, growing ever stronger without cease, has now utterly broken the aroma. The strings of my heart snap when I see him. Today he is returning to Pancho Vati to look for the last time upon the places that witnessed the intimate moments of his forest life with his wife. He is self-controlled by nature yet I fear that in such a place unbearable blows of grief will assail him at every step. God over it take heed of this. Send toward the aroma to the utmost gentleness. Abriss cooled by droplets from your waves and carrying the fragrance of lotus pollen. And when he is about to faint, he sooth his life-breath. Interlude to Act 3. Tomasa, such foresight is entirely worthy of Lopomudra's affection. Yet a more fundamental means of reviving the aroma is available even now. How? Listen. It is said that many years ago, immediately after Lokshmona abandoned her and returned from Valmiki's sacred grove, Queen Cita's labour pains began. The agony was so intense that she threw herself into the Ganges. There she gave birth to twin sons. Earth and Gonga came to her aid and took her down to the Netherworld. When the boys were weaned, Goddess Gonga herself entrusted them to the care of the great sage descended from Prashtas. Innastonishment! Even the calamities of such a woman become occasions for pure wonder. for divine powers such as these come to her aid. They turn and exit together. Nalbhagarata learned from Sarayu that Dear Rama might have come to Janasthana because of the affair of Shambhuka. She too was seized by the same tender concern as Lopamudra. So, on the pretext of performing a right to ward off evil, she came with Sita to visit the Godavari. to act three. Murala, Gonga's foresight was wise. As long as King Rama remained in the capital, occupied with the many urgent affairs of his subjects, his attention was necessarily divided. But now, with no diversion and no companion but grief, returning to Panchavati is dangerous. Can Queen Sita somehow console dear Rama? To Mara, Goddess Bagarate has already considered this. She said to Sita, daughter Sita, born from the sacrificial ground, today the tally of the birth years of Kusha and Lava, may they live forever, has reached twelve. Therefore, gather flowers with your own hands and worship the stainless sun, first ancestor of humankind, founder of your son's royal line, and your primordial father-in-law. By my power, not merely human beings, but even gods upon earth will be unable to perceive your presence. When she commanded me, Thermesa, daughter Jonaki, my daughter-in-law, holds you in special affection, therefore you must attend her. I am now carrying out that command. Murala, I shall tell Lopamudra of this plan. It seems dear Rama himself has arrived. Tamasa, and there, emerging from a pool of the Godavari. Interlude to Act 3. Her face veiled by dishevelled hair. lovely are by pale and hollow cheeks. The image of compassion, the embodied pain of separation from love. Joniki is entering the forest. Murala, yes, it must be she. Like a tender shoot cut from its stem. The heat of long, harsh grief has dried the flower of her heart. As autumn heat dries the leaf of a ketoki bud. Her pale, wasted body has withered. of the interlude.

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