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Kishkindha Kanda, Chapter 28

Eulogy on Rainy Season

Rama spoke to Lakshmana while residing on the mountainside of Mt. Malayavata, also known as Mt. Prasavana, ensuing the elimination of Vali and enthronement of Sugreeva.

"This is that time of which we thought and it has come to pass. Now it is rainy season. You see the sky fully covered with mountainous clouds.

"Sustaining a nine-month pregnancy, impregnated through the Sun with his sunrays guzzling the essence of oceans, the heaven is giving birth to the elixir of life.

"It is very likely to climb up the flight of stairs of clouds to bedeck the sun with the garlands of white wild-jasmines, and red Arjuna flowers, in these days.

"Those clouds with pure white edges, and with reddish hue of sunset extending on them, look like soft pieces of cloth bandaged on the gashes of sky.

"Slothful breezes as her sighs, sunset tingeing her as sandal paste, the sky with blanched clouds on her face appears like the one sighing for love.

"Overly agonised with the searing-summer, but thoroughly wetted with new waters, this earth looks like Sita, both implacably outpouring tears.

"Freed from the wombs of clouds, cool as the leaves of minty-camphor, perfumed with the fragrance of Mogra plants, such as these breezes are it is possible to have a draught of them with the bowl of palms.

"This mountain with fully bloomed Arjuna flowers, further fragranced by Ketaka flowers is being anointed with downpours on a par with Sugreeva, who is anointed when his enemy is silenced.

"Donning clouds as black deer skins, torrents as sacred-threads, and caves replete with breezes as vocals, the mountains look like young-scholars reciting Vedas.

"While the flashes of lightning are whipping the sky as if they are the golden whips, it is letting out rattle of thunders holding out against its inly throes.

"That lightning hingeing on the blue cloud is squirmy, to me it appears like woeful Vaidehi squirming in the grasp of Ravana.

"For those who are with their beloveds these precincts are advantageous, as their directions, as to which east and which is west, are unclear; and to loverless ones like me they are disadvantageous, because the same precincts have their planets and even their moon lost, and they look as though begrimed with dark-clouds.

"Feeling happy with the arrival of rain wild jasmine plants standing somewhere on the terraces of mountain are flowered, and they are thickly covered with droplets of vapour, as if they are the tears of happiness hovering round the flower like faces of ladyloves at the arrival of their lovers, and such plants are becoming inciters of passion in me, who am let down by my sorrow for my ladylove.

"In these days the dust is quietened, breeze is chilly, vile pervasions of summer are also quietened, conquests of kings indeed came to a halt, and the people in outstation are returning to their own countries.

"Presently swans have started journey to Lake Manasa eager to live there, but the Cakravaka birds, ruddy gees, that are together with their beloveds are not departing, and vehicles are not taking to road as the rainwater has battered the roadways oftentimes.

"Widely bestrewn with clouds the sky is bright somewhere, and not so bright somewhere else, thus it is gleaming well with an aspect of vast but tideless ocean that is by far dammed up with cloudlike mountains.

"Coalesced with Sarja and Wild-jasmine flowers, and also with the coppery ores of the mountain, the new waters are swiftly transiting towards ocean, while screams of peacocks haunting them.

"The fruits of rose-apple that resemble honeybees are delightedly devoured as they are highly luscious, but the mango fruits that are discoloured and putrefied are falling to ground heaved down by wind.

"Electric-charges as their fluttering flags of war, flights of cranes as their garlands of gallantry, those clouds very similar in their build to the pinnacles of lordly mountains are thundering with very high pitched voices like invigorated lordly elephants standing up to a fight.

"When clouds have completely rained on the greenery pasturelands are satiated with rainwater and peacocks are stimulated to dancing carnivals, thus it is extremely splendorous in afternoons, behold it.

"Clouds adorned with cranes around them are rumbling to transport them, and the weighty water contained inside their wombs, and reposing on the loftiest mountain peaks they are moving, moving and again reposing, like pregnant women.

"Highly delighted cranes are flying all over in rows highly desirous of the clouds, and they are shining forth like the best and lovely festoons of white lotus flowers as if wind has upheaved and dangled them on the sky.

"The meadowland is with its new meadows which are medially dappled with young and small red-beetles, and it is shining forth as if she is a woman wearing a parrot-green wraparound on which lac-red spots are embroidered.

"These days sleep is slowly getting closer to Vishnu, rivers are rapidly getting closer to oceans, cranes are gleefully getting closer to clouds, and women are passionately getting closer to their beloveds.

"Interiors of forests have become adaptive for the peacocks to dance very well, Kadamba trees have become adaptive to their branches and bouquets, bulls with matching sensualities became adaptive to cows, and adaptive is this earth with its enrapturing crops and orchards, and all are adaptive to the season's gaiety.

"Rivers are surging, clouds are showering, rutty elephants are shrilling, forest interiors are shining, loverless are speculating, and peacocks are rocking, monkeys are resolving to stay at one place, for this is the rainy season.

"On whiffing the fragrance of new Ketaka flowers the lordly elephants are highly joyous and became excited, but they are baffled at the sounds made by the fall of water in the streamlets of forest, and those best ruttish elephants are blaring along with screaming peacocks.

"Honeybees languishing on the branches of Kadamba trees are knocked down by the downpour of rain, thereby they are slowly forfeiting the intemperance which they acquired in a trice by plunging themselves into the nectar of flowers.

"Rose-apple trees contain abundant fruits with profuse juice which look like the globated coal powder, with them the branches of those trees shine forth as though swilled by hives of honeybees.

"Ornamented with the flags of lightning, and that have whooping, profound and blaring booms, those clouds by their appearances are verily shining forth like the elephants enthusiastic for a war.

"That energetic and lordly elephant which readily started going towards the forest minding the track of that mountain, heard the thundering of the cloud, and doubting it a the war-whoop of another elephant took a right about turn wishing for a head-on collision with it.

"Somewhere the interiors of forests are finely singing, in affect, as they have swarms of singing honeybees; elsewhere, they are richly dancing, practically, as the purple-necked peacocks are bestirring; somewhere else, they are highly excited, virtually, as lordly elephants are highly excited, thus the interiors of forests are beaming forth as retreats to many bees, birds and animals.

"Plentiful in Kadamba, Sarja, Arjuna, Kandala trees and with the heaps of their reddish flowers fallen on ground, and well-excited peacocks screaming and dancing like the tipplers of that liquor like nectar, thus the interiors of forest are aplenty with nectar of those fallen flowers flowing like water, thus they are impressively similar to the lands of liquor, say watering-holes.

"Extremely clear, pure, pearl-similar rainwater given as a gift by Indra is falling down and clinching the hallows of leaves, such as it is, it is heartily guzzled down by the thirsty birds whose wings are discoloured by the same water.

"Melodious string bass of honeybees as stringendo, frogs crocking as vocal rhythm, fortissimos of clouds as drumbeats, music has commenced in the forest as though programmed.

"Somewhere dancing well, elsewhere voicing in high pitch, and somewhere else seated high on the trees are the peacocks with plumaged tails as their dangling decorations, and it appears as the music and dance have commenced in the forests as programmed.

"Thunders of clouds called up the frogs, and casting off their long-time captivity in sleep, frogs of various casts, carves, colours and crocks are crocking scourged heavily by the streams of new waters.

"Prideful rivers are swiftly surging near and near of their lover-like ocean overflowing their own battered riverbanks, and in doing so they are swinging and seesawing flights of ruddy gees flying on their bosom, where the curvatures of bird-flight look like the new, full-fledged, seducible, nubile breasts of the river, and in doing so the river is also lugging other items of romance, namely flowers and fruits, steeped in their new waters.

"When the swarthy clouds full with new waters are docking among swarthily clouds, they are shining forth like mountains burnt by wildfire docking among other mountains that are already burnt by wildfire, both moored at mountain-bases.

"Elephants are moving about the very pleasant interiors of forests where peahens are voluptuously screaming, pasturelands are overspread with red-beetles, and where they are fragranced with the flowers of Niipa and Arjuna trees.

"Lashed are the fibrils of lotuses with the downpour of new waters, hence quickly leaving them off the joyful honeybees are quaffing the Kadamba flowers with new fibrils.

"In forests lordly elephants are ruttish, ideal bulls that are delighted, peerless lions are triumphant to a better degree, lofty mountains are heart-pleasant, lords of people are withdrawing from their campaigns, and the lord of gods, Indra, is playing well with water giving clouds.

"The clouds having torrential water are soaring the sky, and spurning the booms of oceans with their rumbles they are inundating rivers, lakes, pools, tanks and even the earth.

"Rains are falling substantially and speedily, gales are blowing intensified in their speediness, while rivers are conducting water speedily over their eroded riverbanks and far afield of their course.

"Lords of people will be anointed by people with water carried in pots on their shoulders, and then those kings show their propitious aspect of a humanly king with applied divinity, whereas the lords of mountains are being anointed with the water sent directly by Indra and hitherto wafted straight by Air-god in the pots called black-clouds, thus these lordly mountains are standing alone as if showing their grandeur and divinity on earth.

"Sky is closely enshrouded with clouds, neither sun nor stars are getting around for a glimpse, earth is fully satiated with the torrents of new water, enswathed in obscurity the precincts are unilluminated...

"The paramount pinnacles of the mountains are thoroughly washed by the torrential rains and are shining forth surpassingly, and the voluminous and widespread torrents that are pitching down are like the pearly necklaces pendulous on the chests of mountains.

"Washing the mountain stones speedily the torrents on the lofty mountains are widespread and entering the caves, in which peacocks are highly screaming, and thus they are in the gleam of lavalieres strewn around.

"On neatly washing the crests of wide mountains and their nearby planes, the high-speeded waterfalls are falling like pearl-necklaces and the mountains are wearing them at the planes of their cavernous caves.

"Like the strings of pearls of heavenly females plopping down when broken in the friction of lovemaking, excellent streams of water are falling all over and in all directions.

"With the return of birds to nests, doubling up of lotuses, and blooming up jasmines, the sun is know to have gone into dusk.

"Reversed are the campaigns of kings as the armies are marooned and thus rainwater has neutralised conflicts and roadways.

"The month of Bhaadrapada, August-September, is the time for learning the singing of Sama Veda, and this is the time that has come for those Brahmans who concern themselves for learning the singing of Sama Veda.

"On carrying out all the domestic affairs and completely garnering the goods for rainy season, Bharata, the king of Kosala, might have definitely undertaken the 'four-month-vow' on the full moon day of aSaaDha month.

"Definitely the River Sarayu must be overfilling and its swashing must be mounting as with the commotion of Ayodhya on beholding my returning to city.

"This rainy season as such has manifold inbuilt facilities for self-contained entertainment, so Sugreeva must be luxuriating in them, besides, revelling for conquering his enemy, regaining his wife, and instituting himself as a king of an admirable kingdom.

"As for me, Lakshmana, I am the one who is toppled from a great kingdom, whose wife is stolen, such as I am, I am toppling down like a riverbank that is toppled over.

"Also my anguish is boundless, the rains have definitely made the pathways impassable, my enemy Ravana is a formidable one, thus these three appear to me as insurmountable obstacles.

"Though Sugreeva is very humble to embark on a campaign, visualising the rainy season as an impossible one for any campaign, and even the pathways are rendered highly impassable I have not said anything to him in the affirmative.

"Even Sugreeva has undergone many difficulties in their entirety, after a long while he is united with his wife, and even owing to the magnitude involved in our task of tracking down Ravana I did not desire to insist on that monkey.

"After a respite Sugreeva will realise on his own that the time has come, and he will also realise the he has something to requite, isn't it! So, there needn't be any doubt in that matter.

"I therefore stay abidingly looking forward for the time, oh, Lakshmana with felicitous aspects, expectant of the generosity of Sugreeva and of these rivers.

"A valiant one who is succoured will be indebted with some requital on his part, but besides being unfaithful, if one who does not make requital for all the favours done in his interest, he will be wounding the hearts of soft-hearted people." Rama said so to Lakshmana, keeping Sugreeva in view.

Visualising what Rama said about their waiting for pre-winter season to be candid, and praisefully making palm-fold at that determination of Rama, and even to clarify his own opportune viewpoint, Lakshmana spoke to Rama who by his own aspect is a delightful one for a ken.

"Oh, lord of people, Sugreeva will be effectuating everything you have desired and said, not later but soon, hence awaiting autumn you may please bear up these heavy rainfalls, besides bearing with the idea of disciplining the enemy." So said Lakshmana to Rama.