Translations Of Shakuntala And Other Works Part 34

Yet I may enter through the door That mightier poets pierced of yore; A thread may pierce a jewel, but Must follow where the diamond cut.

Of kings who lived as saints from birth, Who ruled to ocean-sh.o.r.e on earth, Who toiled until success was given, Whose chariots stormed the gates of heaven,

Whose pious offerings were blest, Who gave his wish to every guest, Whose punishments were as the crimes, Who woke to guard the world betimes,

Who sought, that they might lavish, pelf, Whose measured speech was truth itself, Who fought victorious wars for fame, Who loved in wives the mother's name,

Who studied all good arts as boys, Who loved, in manhood, manhood's joys, Whose age was free from worldly care, Who breathed their lives away in prayer,

Of these I sing, of Raghu's line, Though weak mine art, and wisdom mine.

Forgive these idle stammerings And think: For virtue's sake he sings.

The good who hear me will be glad To pluck the good from out the bad; When ore is proved by fire, the loss Is not of purest gold, but dross.

After the briefest glance at the origin of the solar line, the poet tells of Rama's great-great-grandfather, King Dilipa. The detailed description of Dilipa's virtues has interest as showing Kalidasa's ideal of an aristocrat; a brief sample must suffice here:

He practised virtue, though in health; Won riches, with no greed for wealth; Guarded his life, though not from fear; Prized joys of earth, but not too dear.

His virtuous foes he could esteem Like bitter drugs that healing seem; The friends who sinned he could forsake Like fingers bitten by a snake.

Yet King Dilipa has one deep-seated grief: he has no son. He therefore journeys with his queen to the hermitage of the sage Vasishtha, in order to learn what they must do to propitiate an offended fate. Their chariot rolls over country roads past fragrant lotus-ponds and screaming peac.o.c.ks and trustful deer, under archways formed without supporting pillars by the cranes, through villages where they receive the blessings of the people. At sunset they reach the peaceful forest hermitage, and are welcomed by the sage. In response to Vasishtha's benevolent inquiries, the king declares that all goes well in the kingdom, and yet:

Until from this dear wife there springs A son as great as former kings, The seven islands of the earth And all their gems, are nothing worth.

The final debt, most holy one, Which still I owe to life--a son-- Galls me as galls the cutting chain An elephant housed in dirt and pain.

Vasishtha tells the king that on a former occasion he had offended the divine cow Fragrant, and had been cursed by the cow to lack children until he had propitiated her own offspring. While the sage is speaking, Fragrant's daughter approaches, and is entrusted to the care of the king and queen.

_Second canto. The holy cow's gift_.--During twenty-one days the king accompanies the cow during her wanderings in the forest, and each night the queen welcomes their return to the hermitage. On the twenty-second day the cow is attacked by a lion, and when the king hastens to draw an arrow, his arm is magically numbed, so that he stands helpless. To increase his horror, the lion speaks with a human voice, saying that he is a servant of the G.o.d s.h.i.+va, set on guard there and eating as his appointed food any animals that may appear.

Dilipa perceives that a struggle with earthly weapons is useless, and begs the lion to accept his own body as the price of the cow's release. The lion tries sophistry, using the old, hollow arguments:

Great beauty and fresh youth are yours; on earth As sole, unrivalled emperor you rule; Should you redeem a thing of little worth At such a price, you would appear a fool.

If pity moves you, think that one mere cow Would be the gainer, should you choose to die; Live rather for the world! Remember how The father-king can bid all dangers fly.

And if the fiery sage's wrath, aglow At loss of one sole cow, should make you shudder, Appease his anger; for you can bestow Cows by the million, each with pot-like udder.

Save life and youth; for to the dead are given No long, unbroken years of joyous mirth; But riches and imperial power are heaven-- The G.o.ds have nothing that you lack on earth.

The lion spoke and ceased; but echo rolled Forth from the caves wherein the sound was pent, As if the hills applauded manifold, Repeating once again the argument.

Dilipa has no trouble in piercing this sophistical argument, and again offers his own life, begging the lion to spare the body of his fame rather than the body of his flesh. The lion consents, but when the king resolutely presents himself to be eaten, the illusion vanishes, and the holy cow grants the king his desire. The king returns to his capital with the queen, who shortly becomes pregnant.

_Third canto. Raghu's consecration_.--The queen gives birth to a glorious boy, whom the joyful father names Raghu. There follows a description of the happy family, of which a few stanzas are given here:

The king drank pleasure from him late and soon With eyes that stared like windless lotus-flowers; Unselfish joy expanded all his powers As swells the sea responsive to the moon.

The rooted love that filled each parent's soul For the other, deep as bird's love for the mate, Was now divided with the boy; and straight The remaining half proved greater than the whole.

He learned the reverence that befits a boy; Following the nurse's words, began to talk; And clinging to her finger, learned to walk: These childish lessons stretched his father's joy,

Who clasped the baby to his breast, and thrilled To feel the nectar-touch upon his skin, Half closed his eyes, the father's bliss to win Which, more for long delay, his being filled.

The baby hair must needs be clipped; yet he Retained two dangling locks, his cheeks to fret; And down the river of the alphabet He swam, with other boys, to learning's sea.

Religion's rites, and what good learning suits A prince, he had from teachers old and wise; Not theirs the pain of barren enterprise, For effort spent on good material, fruits.

This happy childhood is followed by a youth equally happy. Raghu is married and made crown prince. He is entrusted with the care of the horse of sacrifice,[1] and when Indra, king of the G.o.ds, steals the horse, Raghu fights him. He cannot overcome the king of heaven, yet he acquits himself so creditably that he wins Indra's friends.h.i.+p. In consequence of this proof of his manhood, the empire is bestowed upon Raghu by his father, who retires with his queen to the forest, to spend his last days and prepare for death.

_Fourth canto. Raghu conquers the world_.--The canto opens with several stanzas descriptive of the glory of youthful King Raghu.

He manifested royal worth By even justice toward the earth, Beloved as is the southern breeze, Too cool to burn, too warm to freeze.

The people loved his father, yet For greater virtues could forget; The beauty of the blossoms fair Is lost when mango-fruits are there.

But the va.s.sal kings are restless

For when they knew the king was gone And power was wielded by his son, The wrath of subject kings awoke, Which had been damped in sullen smoke.

Raghu therefore determines to make a warlike progress through all India. He marches eastward with his army from his capital Ayodhya (the name is preserved in the modern Oudh) to the Bay of Bengal, then south along the eastern sh.o.r.e of India to Cape Comorin, then north along the western sh.o.r.e until he comes to the region drained by the Indus, finally east through the tremendous Himalaya range into a.s.sam, and thence home. The various nations whom he encounters, Hindus, Persians, Greeks, and White Huns, all submit either with or without fighting. On his safe return, Raghu offers a great sacrifice and gives away all his wealth.[2]

_Fifth canto. Aja goes wooing_.--While King Raghu is penniless, a young sage comes to him, desiring a huge sum of money to give to the teacher with whom he has just finished his education. The king, unwilling that any suppliant should go away unsatisfied, prepares to a.s.sail the G.o.d of wealth in his Himalayan stronghold, and the G.o.d, rather than risk the combat, sends a rain of gold into the king's treasury. This gold King Raghu bestows upon the sage, who gratefully uses his spiritual power to cause a son to be born to his benefactor.

In course of time, the son is born and the name Aja is given to him.

We are here introduced to Prince Aja, who is a kind of secondary hero in the poem, inferior only to his mighty grandson, Rama. To Aja are devoted the remainder of this fifth canto and the following three cantos; and these Aja-cantos are among the loveliest in the epic. When the prince has grown into young manhood, he journeys to a neighbouring court to partic.i.p.ate in the marriage reception of Princess Indumati.[3]

One evening he camps by a river, from which a wild elephant issues and attacks his party. When wounded by Aja, the elephant strangely changes his form, becoming a demiG.o.d, gives the prince a magic weapon, and departs to heaven. Aja proceeds without further adventure to the country and the palace of Princess Indumati, where he is made welcome and luxuriously lodged for the night. In the morning, he is awakened by the song of the court poets outside his chamber. He rises and betakes himself to the hall where the suitors are gathering.

_Sixth canto. The princess chooses_.--The princely suitors a.s.semble in the hall; then, to the sound of music, the princess enters in a litter, robed as a bride, and creates a profound sensation.

For when they saw G.o.d's masterpiece, the maid Who smote their eyes to other objects blind, Their glances, wishes, hearts, in homage paid, Flew forth to her; mere flesh remained behind.

The princes could not but betray their yearning By sending messengers, their love to bring, In many a quick, involuntary turning, As flowering twigs of trees announce the spring.

Then a maid-servant conducts the princess from one suitor to another, and explains the claim which each has upon her affection. First is presented the King of Magadha, recommended in four stanzas, one of which runs:

Though other kings by thousands numbered be, He seems the one, sole governor of earth; Stars, constellations, planets, fade and flee When to the moon the night has given birth.

But the princess is not attracted.

The slender maiden glanced at him; she glanced And uttered not a word, nor heeded how The gra.s.s-twined blossoms of her garland danced When she dismissed him with a formal bow.

They pa.s.s to the next candidate, the king of the Anga country, in whose behalf this, and more, is said:

Learning and wealth by nature are at strife, Yet dwell at peace in him; and for the two You would be fit companion as his wife, Like wealth enticing, and like learning true.