Canto LV.
The Hermitage Burnt.
So o'er the field that host lay strown,
By Viśvámitra's darts o'erthrown.
Then thus Vaśishṭha charged the cow:
“Create with all thy vigour now.”
Forth sprang Kámbojas,as she lowed;
Bright as the sun their faces glowed,
Forth from her udder Barbars poured,—
Soldiers who brandished spear and sword,—
And Yavans with their shafts and darts,
AndŚakas from her hinder parts.
And every pore upon her fell,
And every hair-producing cell,
With Mlechchhas229and Kirátas230teemed,
And forth with them Hárítas streamed.
And Viśvámitra's mighty force,
Car,elephant,and foot,and horse,
Fell in a moment's time,subdued
By that tremendous multitude.
The monarch's hundred sons,whose eyes
Beheld the rout in wild surprise,
Armed with all weapons,mad with rage,
Rushed fiercely on the holy sage.
One cry he raised,one glance he shot,
And all fell scorched upon the spot:
Burnt by the sage to ashes,they
With horse,and foot,and chariot,lay.
The monarch mourned,with shame and pain,
His army lost,his children slain,
Like Ocean when his roar is hushed,
Or some great snake whose fangs are crushed:
Or as in swift eclipse the Sun
Dark with the doom he cannot shun:
Or a poor bird with mangled wing—
So,reft of sons and host,the king
No longer,by ambition fired,
The pride of war his breast inspired.
He gave his empire to his son—
Of all he had,the only one:
And bade him rule as kings are taught
Then straight a hermit-grove he sought.
Far to Himálaya's side he fled,
Which bards and Nágas visited,
And,Mahádeva's231grace to earn,
He gave his life to penance stern.
A lengthened season thus passed by,
WhenŚiva's self,the Lord most High,
Whose banner shows the pictured bull,232
Appeared,the God most bountiful:
“Why fervent thus in toil and pain?
What brings thee here?what boon to gain?
Thy heart's desire,O Monarch,speak:
I grant the boons which mortals seek.”
The king,his adoration paid,
To Mahádeva answer made:
“If thou hast deemed me fit to win
Thy favour,O thou void of sin,
On me,O mighty God,bestow
The wondrous science of the bow,
All mine,complete in every part,
With secret spell and mystic art.
To me be all the arms revealed
That Gods,and saints,and Titans wield,
And every dart that arms the hands
Of spirits,fiends and minstrel bands,
Be mine,O Lord supreme in place,
This token of thy boundless grace.”
The Lord of Gods then gave consent,
And to his heavenly mansion went.
Triumphant in the arms he held,
The monarch's breast with glory swelled.
So swells the ocean,when upon
His breast the full moon's beams have shone.
Already in his mind he viewed
Vaśishṭha at his feet subdued.
He sought that hermit's grove,and there
Launched his dire weapons through the air,
Till scorched by might that none could stay
The hermitage in ashes lay.
Where'er the inmates saw,aghast,
The dart that Viśvámitra cast,
To every side they turned and fled
In hundreds forth disquieted.
Vaśishṭha's pupils caught the fear,
And every bird and every deer,
And fled in wild confusion forth
Eastward and westward,south and north,
And so Vaśishṭha's holy shade
A solitary wild was made,
Silent awhile,for not a sound
Disturbed the hush that was around.
Vaśishṭha then,with eager cry,
Called,“Fear not,friends,nor seek to fly.
This son of Gádhi dies to-day,
Like hoar-frost in the morning's ray.”
Thus having said,the glorious sage
Spoke to the king in words of rage:
“Because thou hast destroyed this grove
Which long in holy quiet throve,
By folly urged to senseless crime,
Now shalt thou die before thy time.”
