The RÁMÁYAN of VÁLMÍKI - Part 2 - 80 in English Spiritual Stories by MB (Official) books and stories PDF | The RÁMÁYAN of VÁLMÍKI - Part 2 - 80

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The RÁMÁYAN of VÁLMÍKI - Part 2 - 80

80
Canto LXXX. 
The Way Prepared.
All they who knew the joiner's art,

Or distant ground in every part;

Each busied in his several trade,

To work machines or ply the spade;

Deft workmen skilled to frame the wheel,

Or with the ponderous engine deal;

Guides of the way, and craftsmen skilled,

To sink the well, make bricks, and build;

And those whose hands the tree could hew,

And work with slips of cut bamboo,

Went forward, and to guide them, they

Whose eyes before had seen the way.

Then onward in triumphant mood

Went all the mighty multitude.

Like the great sea whose waves leap high

When the full moon is in the sky.

Then, in his proper duty skilled,

Each joined him to his several guild,

And onward in advance they went

With every tool and implement.

Where bush and tangled creeper lay

With trenchant steel they made the way;

They felled each stump, removed each stone,

And many a tree was overthrown.

In other spots, on desert lands,

Tall trees were reared by busy hands.

Where'er the line of road they took,

They plied the hatchet, axe, and hook.

Others, with all their strength applied,

Cast vigorous plants and shrubs aside,

In shelving valleys rooted deep,

And levelled every dale and steep.

Each pit and hole that stopped the way

They filled with stones, and mud, and clay,

And all the ground that rose and fell

With busy care was levelled well.

They bridged ravines with ceaseless toil,

And pounded fine the flinty soil.

Now here, now there, to right and left,

A passage through the ground they cleft,

And soon the rushing flood was led

Abundant through the new-cut bed,

Which by the running stream supplied

With ocean's boundless waters vied.

In dry and thirsty spots they sank

Full many a well and ample tank,

And altars round about them placed

To deck the station in the waste.

With well-wrought plaster smoothly spread,

With bloomy trees that rose o'erhead,

With banners waving in the air,

And wild birds singing here and there,

With fragrant sandal-water wet,

With many a flower beside it set,

Like the Gods' heavenly pathway showed

That mighty host's imperial road.

Deft workmen, chosen for their skill

To do the high-souled Bharat's will,

In every pleasant spot where grew

Trees of sweet fruit and fair to view,

As he commanded, toiled to grace

With all delights his camping-place.

And they who read the stars, and well

Each lucky sign and hour could tell,

Raised carefully the tented shade

Wherein high-minded Bharat stayed.

With ample space of level ground,

With broad deep moat encompassed round;

Like Mandar in his towering pride,

With streets that ran from side to side;

Enwreathed with many a palace tall

Surrounded by its noble wall;

With roads by skilful workmen made,

Where many a glorious banner played;

With stately mansions, where the dove

Sat nestling in her cote above.

Rising aloft supremely fair

Like heavenly cars that float in air,

Each camp in beauty and in bliss

Matched Indra's own metropolis.

As shines the heaven on some fair night,

With moon and constellations filled,

The prince's royal road was bright,

Adorned by art of workmen skilled.