Setubandha

SR No.: 001384
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Krishnakant Handiqui
Publisher: Prakrit Text Society Ahmedabad
Publication Year: 1976
Total Pages: 812
Language: English, Sanskrit
Classification: Book_English & Literature
File Size: 14 MB

Page 196

SETUBANDHA
35
57. Vibhisana, pleased with Hanumat's confidence in him, intimated his resolve (to side with Rāma). Sugrīva, thereupon, embraced him, crushing the bees hidden in the garland of sylvan flowers on his breast. • 58. Rāma then spoke, radiating the lustre of his teeth in the ten directions together, as if it were a bright emanation from his heart, pure by nature.
59. 'Behold. Like as a wild female elephant, scared by a forest fire, seeks a safe place in the forest, unwilling to leave it, having lived there happily; similarly, the goddess of prosperity is unwilling to forsake the race of demons, being happy (in her sojourn with them). 45
60. "Vibhīşaņa, thy wisdom, enriched by thy genial nature, is known to be unimpaired even by thy kinship with the demons, even as the nectar of the ocean46 was unspoilt by the venomous serpents.
61. 'Endowed with stainless character and the lustre of manifold hrilliant virtues, thou hast clearly adorned even the impure race of demons; like as the moon, pure by nature, with excellent radiant rays, lends charm to its deer, though it is a stain.
62. "Persons of character, efficient in their task, who adopt a course of action by applying their intellectual powers, and take their stand upon family tradition and self-respect, - how can they fail to attain royal fortune ?
63. "Having long enjoyed the capture of celestial maidens, Rāvana hath brought Sītā to the abode of the demons, like as a poison-destroying plant is brought into a lair of venomous serpents.47
45. i.e., the prosperity of the demons, endangered by the misdeeds of Rāvana, will yet be safe in the hands of Vibhīşana who will soon replace him as the ruler of Lankā.
46. i.e., in the period before the churning.
47. i.e., to drive them away. Serpents are believed to be unable to endure the smell of certain plants. Cf. 7.68 and 9.45. This belief is referred to in Nāyādhammakahão in one of the verses quoted at the end of Chap. 17: ghānimdiya-duddamtattanassa aha ettio havai dosol jam nsahi-gamdhenani bilão niddhavai urago Il 6 ll, ed. N. V. Vaidya, Poona, 1940.