---

Скачать книгу

---

Daśaratha’s sons, I ween,

      Own each young grace of form and mien:

      Brave as the Gods are they, nor yield

      To the great Lords the worlds who shield.

      By these, good Prince of merits high,

      Ikshváku’s house with thine ally.”

      The suit the holy sage preferred,

      With willing ear the monarch heard:

      Vaśishṭha’s lips the counsel praised:

      Then spake the king with hands upraised:

      “Now blest indeed my race I deem,

      Which your high will, O Saints supreme,

      With Daśaratha’s house unites

      In bonds of love and marriage rites.

      So be it done. My nieces twain

      Let Bharat and Śatrughna gain,

      And the four youths the selfsame day

      Four maiden hands in theirs shall lay.

      No day so lucky may compare,

      For marriage — so the wise declare —

      With the last day of Phálguni

      Ruled by the genial deity.”

      Then with raised hands in reverence due

      To those arch-saints he spoke anew:

      “I am your pupil, ever true:

      To me high favour have ye shown;

      Come, sit ye on my royal throne,

      For Daśaratha rules these towers

      E’en as Ayodhyá now is ours.

      Do with your own whate’er ye choose:

      Your lordship here will none refuse.”

      He spoke, and to Videha’s king

      Thus Daśaratha, answering:

      “Boundless your virtues, lords, whose sway

      The realms of Mithilá obey.

      With honouring care you entertain.

      Both holy sage and royal train.

      Now to my house my steps I bend —

      May blessings still on you at end —

      Due offerings to the shades to pay.”

      Thus spoke the king, and turned away:

      To Janak first he bade adieu,

      Then followed fast those holy two.

      The monarch reached his palace where

      The rites were paid with solemn care.

      When the next sun began to shine

      He rose and made his gift of kine.

      A hundred thousand cows prepared

      For each young prince the Bráhmans shared.

      Each had her horns adorned with gold;

      And duly was the number told,

      Four hundred thousand perfect tale:

      Each brought a calf, each filled a pail.

      And when that glorious task was o’er,

      The monarch with his children four,

      Showed like the Lord of Life divine

      When the worlds’ guardians round him shine.

      Canto 73. The Nuptials.

      On that same day that saw the king

      His gift of kine distributing,

      The lord of Kekaya’s son, by name

      Yudhájit, Bharat’s uncle, came,

      Asked of the monarch’s health, and then

      Addressed the reverend king of men:

      “The lord of Kekaya’s realm by me

      Sends greeting, noble King, to thee:

      Asks if the friends thy prayers would bless

      Uninterrupted health possess.

      Right anxious, mighty King, is he

      My sister’s princely boy to see.

      For this I sought Ayodhyá fair

      The message of my sire to bear.

      There learning, O my liege, that thou

      With sons and noble kinsmen now

      Wast resting here, I sought the place

      Longing to see my nephew’s face.”

      The king with kind observance cheered

      His friend by tender ties endeared,

      And every choicest honour pressed

      Upon his honourable guest.

      That night with all his children spent,

      At morn King Daśaratha went,

      Behind Vaśishṭha and the rest,

      To the fair ground for rites addressed.

      Then when the lucky hour was nigh

      Called Victory, of omen high,

      Came Ráma, after vow and prayer

      For nuptial bliss and fortune fair,

      With the three youths in bright attire,

      And stood beside his royal sire.

      To Janak then Vaśishṭha sped,

      And to Videha’s monarch said:

      “O King, Ayodhyá‘s ruler now

      Has breathed the prayer and vowed the vow,

      And with his sons expecting stands

      The giver of the maidens’ hands.

      The giver and the taker both

      Must ratify a mutual oath.

      Perform the part for which we wait,

      And rites of marriage celebrate.”

      Skilled in the laws which Scriptures teach,

      He answered thus Vaśishṭha’s speech:

      “O Saint, what warder bars the gate?

      Whose bidding can the king await?

      In one’s own house what doubt is shown?

      This kingdom, Sage, is all thine own.

      E’en now the maidens may be found

      Within the sacrificial ground:

      Each vow is vowed and prayed each prayer,

      And they, like fire, are shining there.

      Here by the shrine my place I took

      Expecting thee with eager look,

      No bar the nuptial rites should stay:

      What cause have we for more delay?”

      When Janak’s speech the monarch heard,

      To sons and saints he gave the word,

      And set them in the holy ring,

      Then to Vaśishṭha spoke the king

      Of Mithilá: “O mighty Sage,

      Now

---

Скачать книгу