Chapter 50
Aranya Kanda - Book Of Forest
तम् शब्दम् अवसुप्तस्य जटायुः अथ शुश्रुवे
निरैक्षत् रावणम् क्षिप्रम् वैदेहीम् च ददर्श सः
tam śabdam avasuptasya jaṭāyuḥ atha śuśruve
niraikṣat rāvaṇam kṣipram vaidehīm ca dadarśa saḥ
SYNONYMS
TRANSLATION
Jataayu who is slumbering away craned and stared on hearing the voicing of Seetha and then he saw Ravana and even Vaidehi. [3-50-1]
ततः पर्वत शृंग आभः तीक्ष्ण तुण्डः खग उत्तमः
वनस्पति गतः श्रीमान् व्याजहार शुभाम् गिरम्
tataḥ parvata śṛṃga ābhaḥ tīkṣṇa tuṇḍaḥ khaga uttamaḥ
vanaspati gataḥ śrīmān vyājahāra śubhām giram
SYNONYMS
TRANSLATION
That best bird majestic Jataayu with a very sharp beak and appearing like a mountain peak, then uttered these words of expediency still perching on a tree. [3-50-2]
दशग्रीव स्थितो धर्मे पुराणे सत्य संश्रयः
भ्रातः सः त्वम् निन्दितम् कर्म कर्तुम् न अर्हसि
संप्रताम्
daśagrīva sthito dharme purāṇe satya saṃśrayaḥ
bhrātaḥ saḥ tvam ninditam karma kartum na arhasi
saṃpratām
SYNONYMS
TRANSLATION
"Oh, brother, now it is inapt of you to undertake a deplorable deed. I am one of those who abide by perpetual probity and avowed to truthfulness. Such as I am, oh, Decahedral-demon Ravana, I am the mightiest king of eagles known by the name Jataayu. [3-50-3, 4a]
PURPORT
SYNONYMS
TRANSLATION
"Rama, the son of Dasharatha, is the master of all the world, one similar to Mahendra and Varuna, the Rain-god, and the one who is connected with the well-being of all the world. [3-50-4b, 5a]
PURPORT
SYNONYMS
TRANSLATION
"Whom you desire to abduct now, that best lady is Seetha by her name, and this glorious one is the legitimate wife of that preserver of all the worlds, namely Rama. [3-50-5b, 6a]
SYNONYMS
TRANSLATION
"How a king adhering to probity can lay his hands on the wives of others? If it is a king's wife, oh, great-mighty Ravana, she is to be safeguarded particularly. [3-50-6b, 7a]
SYNONYMS
TRANSLATION
"Reverse your filthy course, or fortuity, or mind form laying your hands on other's wives. A sagacious person does not undertake that deed by which others deplore him. As with the protection of one's own wife from somebody's laying hands on her, other person's wife is also to be protected in that way. [3-50-8 [3-50-7b, 8]
PURPORT
अर्थम् वा यदि वा कामम् शिष्टाः शास्त्रेषु अनागतम्
व्यवस्यन्ति अनु राजानम् धर्मम् पौलस्त्य नंदन
artham vā yadi vā kāmam śiṣṭāḥ śāstreṣu anāgatam
vyavasyanti anu rājānam dharmam paulastya naṃdana
SYNONYMS
TRANSLATION
"If the means to gain probity, or prosperities, or even pleasures are inconspicuous in scriptures, oh, the scion of Paulastya, then even the erudite scholars will conduct themselves following the king and his demeanour. [3-50-9]
PURPORT
राजा धर्मः च कामः च द्रव्याणाम् च उत्तमो निधिः
धर्मः शुभम् वा पापम् वा राज मूलम् प्रवर्तते
rājā dharmaḥ ca kāmaḥ ca dravyāṇām ca uttamo nidhiḥ
dharmaḥ śubham vā pāpam vā rāja mūlam pravartate
SYNONYMS
TRANSLATION
"A king is the best repository for probity, prosperities, and pleasures, and whether it is probity or felicity or even iniquity that will emerge from the fount called king. [3-50-10]
PURPORT
पाप स्वभावः चपलः कथम् त्वम् रक्षसाम् वर
ऐश्वर्यम् अभिसंप्राप्तो विमानम् इव दुष्कृती
pāpa svabhāvaḥ capalaḥ katham tvam rakṣasām vara
aiśvaryam abhisaṃprāpto vimānam iva duṣkṛtī
SYNONYMS
TRANSLATION
"Oh, prominent one among demons, deviltry and mercuriality are but natural for you demons, but how you have amassed affluence, as with an evildoer attaining an aircraft that puts him to flight to heaven. "You by your nature are a devilish and mercurial personality though you have come from a decent lineage, how you have become an outranking demon among demons and how you could attain kingdom, which is to be ruled righteously, like an evildoer attaining a heaven-bound aircraft. [3-50-11]
काम स्वभावो यः सः असौ न शक्यः तम् प्रमार्जितुम्
न हि दुष्ट आत्मनाम् आर्यम् आवसति आलये चिरम्
kāma svabhāvo yaḥ saḥ asau na śakyaḥ tam pramārjitum
na hi duṣṭa ātmanām āryam āvasati ālaye ciram
SYNONYMS
TRANSLATION
"He whose nature is such, that nature is perhaps impossible to efface, a sermon does not dwell in the heart of an evil-minded one for a long time, indeed. "He whose nature itself is vile, it is perhaps impossible for him to efface it, and in the residence of such an evil-minded person, evilly acquired prosperity does not dwell for a long time, indeed. [3-50-12]
PURPORT
विषये वा पुरे वा ते यदा रामो महाबलः
न अपराध्यति धर्मात्मा कथम् तस्य अपराध्यसि
viṣaye vā pure vā te yadā rāmo mahābalaḥ
na aparādhyati dharmātmā katham tasya aparādhyasi
SYNONYMS
TRANSLATION
"When that great-mighty Rama has not transgressed either in your country or in your city Lanka, then how you become a transgressor in respect of that noble-souled Rama? [3-50-13]
PURPORT
यदि शूर्पणखा हेतोः जनस्थान गतः खरः
अतिवृत्तो हतः पूर्वम् रामेण अक्लिष्ट कर्मणा
yadi śūrpaṇakhā hetoḥ janasthāna gataḥ kharaḥ
ativṛtto hataḥ pūrvam rāmeṇa akliṣṭa karmaṇā
SYNONYMS
TRANSLATION
"If Rama of indefatigable deeds firstly eliminated Khara who is stationed at Janasthaana, and who transgressed for the sake of Shuurpanakha, tell me what in actuality is the highly overstepping behaviour of Rama in that matter, whereupon you are stealing off with the wife of such a lord of world? [3-50-14, 15]
क्षिप्रम् विसृज वैदेहीम् मा त्वा घोरेण चक्षुषा
दहेत् दहनभूतेन वृत्रम् इन्द्र अशनिः यथा
kṣipram visṛja vaidehīm mā tvā ghoreṇa cakṣuṣā
dahet dahanabhūtena vṛtram indra aśaniḥ yathā
SYNONYMS
TRANSLATION
"Instantly deliver up Vaidehi. Let not the disastrous and glowing fire-like eyes of Rama, which transmogrify so when he assumes fury, burn you down as the Thunderbolt of Indra once burnt the demon Vritta. [3-50-16]
सर्पम् आशीविषम् बद्ध्वा वस्त्र अन्ते न अवबुध्यसे
ग्रीवायाम् प्रतिमुक्तम् च काल पाशम् न पश्यसि
sarpam āśīviṣam baddhvā vastra ante na avabudhyase
grīvāyām pratimuktam ca kāla pāśam na paśyasi
SYNONYMS
TRANSLATION
"You are unconscious that you have presently bundled a lethally venomous serpent at the fringe of your attire, and you are equally unwary that the Terminator's lasso is presently loosened around your neck. [3-50-17]
स भारः सौम्य भर्तव्यो यो नरम् न अवसादयेत्
तत् अन्नम् अपि भोक्तव्यम् जीर्यते यत् अनामयम्
sa bhāraḥ saumya bhartavyo yo naram na avasādayet
tat annam api bhoktavyam jīryate yat anāmayam
SYNONYMS
TRANSLATION
"Oh, cultured one, that weight alone is to be shouldered by which a man is not brought down, and that repast alone is to be consumed by which nothing upsets. [3-50-18]
PURPORT
यत् कृत्वा न भवेत् धर्मो न कीर्तिः न यशः ध्रुवम्
शरीरस्य भवेत् खेदः कः तत् कर्म समाचरेत्
yat kṛtvā na bhavet dharmo na kīrtiḥ na yaśaḥ dhruvam
śarīrasya bhavet khedaḥ kaḥ tat karma samācaret
SYNONYMS
TRANSLATION
"Who will undertake a deed that yields neither probity, nor deference, nor distinction but results in just physical drudgery? [3-50-19]
PURPORT
षष्टि वर्ष सहस्राणि जातस्य मम रावण
पितृ पैतामहम् राज्यम् यथावत् अनुतिष्ठतः
ṣaṣṭi varṣa sahasrāṇi jātasya mama rāvaṇa
pitṛ paitāmaham rājyam yathāvat anutiṣṭhataḥ
SYNONYMS
TRANSLATION
"I have dedicated myself to the kingdom of my fathers and forefathers according to tradition, and sixty thousand years have elapsed since I was born. [3-50-20]
वृद्धो अहम् त्वम् युवा धन्वी स रथः कवची शरी
न च अपि आदाय कुशली वैदेहीम् न गमिष्यसि
vṛddho aham tvam yuvā dhanvī sa rathaḥ kavacī śarī
na ca api ādāya kuśalī vaidehīm na gamiṣyasi
SYNONYMS
TRANSLATION
"You are youngish whereas I am oldish, you are an armoured archer darting arrows from an air-chariot, whereas I am pensile bird in an open sky. Nevertheless, on taking Vaidehi you cannot abscond safely. [3-50-21]
न शक्तः त्वम् बलात् हर्तुम् वैदेहीम् मम पश्यतः
हेतुभिः न्याय संयुक्तैः ध्रुवाम् वेद श्रुतीम्
इव
na śaktaḥ tvam balāt hartum vaidehīm mama paśyataḥ
hetubhiḥ nyāya saṃyuktaiḥ dhruvām veda śrutīm
iva
SYNONYMS
TRANSLATION
"It will be incapable of you to forcibly abduct Vaidehi when I keep an eye one her, as with the defilement of definitive Vedic scriptures by the logicians, dialecticians, materialists and suchlike non-believers, with their conjectural logic. "Veda-s are definitive in their canons and their authority is established beyond doubt, yet the doubtful scholarly logicians still try to pamper their import with their conjectural logic, and when I am watchful of what is going on I do not let you pamper Seetha, as such take this caution and release her. [3-50-22]
PURPORT
युध्यस्व यदि शूरो असि मुहूर्तम् तिष्ठ रावण
शयिष्यसे हतो भूमौ यथा पूर्वम् खरः तथा
yudhyasva yadi śūro asi muhūrtam tiṣṭha rāvaṇa
śayiṣyase hato bhūmau yathā pūrvam kharaḥ tathā
SYNONYMS
TRANSLATION
"Stay for a moment, oh, Ravana, if you are valiant enough you can combat with Rama who will return right away, and at his hand you will be slain and sprawling on earth in the same way as Khara sprawled earlier. [3-50-23]
PURPORT
असकृत् संयुगे येन निहता दैत्य दानवाः
न चिरात् चीर वासाः त्वाम् रामो युधि वधिष्यति
asakṛt saṃyuge yena nihatā daitya dānavāḥ
na cirāt cīra vāsāḥ tvām rāmo yudhi vadhiṣyati
SYNONYMS
TRANSLATION
"He who eliminated demons and ogres in combats time after time, that Rama though apparently attired in jute-cloths like a meek-saint, will become a towering-inferno in a given combat, and he eliminates you very soon. [3-50-24]
किम् नु शक्यम् मया कर्तुम् गतौ दूरम् नृप आत्मजौ
क्षिप्रम् त्वम् नश्यसे नीच तयोः भीतो न संशयः
kim nu śakyam mayā kartum gatau dūram nṛpa ātmajau
kṣipram tvam naśyase nīca tayoḥ bhīto na saṃśayaḥ
SYNONYMS
TRANSLATION
"What can possibly be done by me when those princes have gone far-off! It is beyond the scope of my fetching them in time! You knave, you who are scared of them will now be lost to my blockade, without a doubt. [3-50-25]
न हि मे जीवमानस्य नयिष्यसि शुभाम् इमाम्
सीताम् कमल पत्र अक्षीम् रामस्य महषीम् प्रियाम्
na hi me jīvamānasya nayiṣyasi śubhām imām
sītām kamala patra akṣīm rāmasya mahaṣīm priyām
SYNONYMS
TRANSLATION
"When I am alive you cannot lead away this auspicious, lotus-leave-eyed Seetha, the dear queen of Rama. [3-50-26]
अवश्यम् तु मया कार्यम् प्रियम् तस्य महात्मनः
जीवितेन अपि रामस्य तथा दशरथस्य च
avaśyam tu mayā kāryam priyam tasya mahātmanaḥ
jīvitena api rāmasya tathā daśarathasya ca
SYNONYMS
TRANSLATION
"But I must definitely accomplish something to forestall you till they come, for I cannot willingly depart from here to fetch any of the two brothers, and that deed I needs must do shall be agreeable to the great-souled Rama, likewise even to Dasharatha, even at the stake of my life. [3-50-27]
इति वाल्मीकि रामायणे आदि काव्ये अरण्य काण्डे पंचाशः सर्गः
iti vālmīki rāmāyaṇe ādi kāvye araṇya kāṇḍe paṃcāśaḥ sargaḥ
SYNONYMS
TRANSLATION
"Stopoff! Stopoff! Oh, Decahedral Ravana, briefly learn of me as how I jettison you from your best air-chariot, as with the unloading of a burdensome fruit from its sepals. Oh, nightwalker, I will be giving guestship to you in a duel as long as I am alive. [3-50-28]
