The Army of The North.

CANTO XLIII.: THE ARMY OF THE NORTH.

Forth went the legions of the west:
And wise Sugríva addressed
S'atabal, summoned from the crowd.
To whom the sovereign cried aloud:
'Go forth, O Vánarf, go forth,
Explore the regions of the north.
Thy host a hundred thousand be,
And Yama's sons  ^4b attend on thee.
With dauntless courage, strength, and skill
Search every river, wood, and hill.
Through every land in order go
Right onward to the Hills of Snow.
Search mid the peaks that shine afar,
In woods of Lodh and Deodár. ^5b
Search if with Janak's daughter, screened
By sheltering rocks, there lie the fiend

p. 378

The holy grounds of Soma tread
By Gods and minstrels visited.
Reach Kála's mount, and flats that lie
Among the peaks that tower on high.
Then leave that hill that gleams with ore,
And fair Sudars'an's heights explore.
Then on to Devasakhát ¹ hie.
Loved by the children of the sky.
A dreary land you then will see
Without a hill or brook or tree,
A hundred leagues, bare, wild, and dread
In lifeless desolation, spread.
Pursue your onward way, and haste
Through the dire horrors of the waste
Until triumphant with delight
You reach Kailása'stering height.
There stands a palace decked with gold,
For King Kuvera  ² wrought of old,
A home the heavenly artist planned
And fashioned with his cunning hand.
There lotuses adorn the flood
With full-blown flower and opening bud
Where swans and mallards float, and gay
Apsarases  ³ come down to play.
There King Vaisravan's  ⁴ self, the lord
By all the universe adored,
Who golden gifts to mortals sends,
Lives with the Guhyakas  ⁵ his friends.
Search every cavern in the steep,
And green glens where the moonbeams sleep.
If haply in that distant ground
The robber and the dame be found.
Then on to Krauncha's hill,  ⁶ and through
His fearful pass your way pursue:
Though dark and terrible the vale
Your wonted courage must not fail.
There through abyss and cavern seek,
On lofty ridge, and mountain peak.
On, on! pursue your journey still
By valley, lake, and towering hill.
Reach the North Kurus' land, where rest
The holy spirits of the blest;
Where golden buds of lilies gleam
Resplendent on the silver stream,

And leaves of azure turkis throw
Soft splendour on the waves below.
Bright as the sun at early morn
Fair pools that happy clime adorn,
Where shine the loveliest flowers on stems
Of crystal and all valued gems.
Blue lotuses through all the land
The glories of their blooms expand,
And the resplendent earth is strown
With peerless pearl and precious stone.
There stately trees can scarce uphold
The burthen of their fruits of gold,
And ever flaunt their gay attire
Of flower and leaf like flames of fire.
All there sweet lives untroubled spend
In bliss and joy that know not end,
While pearl-decked maidens laugh, or sing
To music of the silvery string.  1b
Still on your forward journey keep,
And rest you by the northern deep,
Where springing from the billows high
Mount Somagiri  2b seeks the sky,
And lightens with perpetual glow
The sunless realm that lies below.
There, present through all life's extent,
Dwells Brahmá Lord preeminent,
And round the great God, manifest
In Rudra  3b forms high sages rest.
Then turn, O Vánarsrch no more,
Nor tempt the sunless, boundless shore.'

Footnotes

377:1b One of the oldest and mightiest of the Vedic deities; in later mythology regard ed as the God of the sea.

377:2b The knotted noose with which he seizes and punishes transgressors.

377:3b Sávarni Manu, Manuspring of the Sun by Chháyá.

377:4b The poet has not said who the sons of Yama are.

377:5b The Lodhra or Lodh (Symplocoa Racemosa) and the DevadárueodaDeodar are well known trees.

378:1 The hills mentioned are not identifiable. Soma means the Moon. Kála, black; Sudaras'an, fair to see; and Devasakhá friend of the Gods

378:2 The God of Wealth.

378:3 The nymphs of Paradise.

378:4 Kuvera the son of Vis'ravas.

378:5 A class of demigods who, like the Yakshas, are the attendants of Kuvera, and the guardians of his treasures.

378:6 Situated in the eastern part of the Himálaya chain, on the north of Assam. The mountain was torn asunder and the pass formed by the War-God Kártikeya and Paras'uráma.