Doha 14g

Reassuring the mind in this way, I shall narrate the charming story of Śrī Raghunātha. Vyāsa and various other top-ranking poets, who have reverently recounted the blessed glory of Śrī Hari, (1) I bow to the lotus feet of them all; let them fulfil all my desires. I make obeisance to the bards of the Kali age, who have sung the multitudinous virtues of Śrī Raghunātha. (2) Even those poets of supreme wisdom who belong to the Prākṛta or popular class (as opposed to the Saṁskṛta or the cultured class), who have narrated the exploits of Śrī Hari in the spoken language, including those who have flourished in the past, those who are still living and those who are yet to come, I reverence them, one and all, renouncing all pretensions. (3) Be propitious and grant this boon that my epic may be honoured in the assemblage of pious souls. A composition which the wise refuse to honour is fruitless labour which only silly poets undertake. (4) Of glory, poetry and affluence that alone is blessed which, like the celestial river Gaṅgā, is conducive to the good of all. The glory of Śrī Rāma is charming indeed, while my poetry is crude. This is something incongruous, I am afraid. (5) By your grace, even this incongruity will turn out well for me; embroidery of silk looks charming even on coarse cloth. (6)

The wise admire only that poetry which is lucid and portrays a spotless character and which even opponents hear with applause forgetting their characteristic animosity. (14-A) Such poetry is not possible without a refined intellect, and of intellectual power I have very little. Be gracious, therefore, so that I may depict the glory of Śrī Hari; I solicit your favour again and again. (14-B) Poets and wise men, lovely swans sporting in the Mānasarovara lake of Śrī Rāma’s exploits! hearing my childlike prayer and recognizing my sublime inclination, be kindly disposed towards me. (14-C) I bow to the lotus feet of the sage Vālmīki who composed the Rāmāyaṇa, which though containing an account of the demon Khara (a cousin of Rāvaṇa), is yet very soft and charming, and though full of references to Dūṣaṇa (another cousin of the demon-King Rāvaṇa)*, yet is faultless. (14-D) * There is a pun on the words ‘Sakhara’ and ‘Dūṣaṇa sahita’ in the original, which are capable of a twofold interpretation. ‘Khara’ and ‘Dūṣaṇa’ as proper nouns denote two of Rāvaṇa’s cousins, who figure in the Araṇyakāṇḍa of the great epic poem of Vālmīki and lead a military expedition against Śrī Rāma in order to avenge themselves of the insult meted out to their sister, Śūrpaṇakhā, by Lakṣmaṇa, Śrī Rāma’s younger brother. They are eventually killed by Śrī Rāma, who proves too strong for the redoubtable demon chiefs. ‘Khara’ also means sharp-edged or hard and is thus contrasted with ‘Sukomala’ (soft). Similarly, ‘Dūṣaṇa’ also means a fault and thus the poet expresses himself to a contradiction in terms when he calls the Rāmāyaṇa both ‘Doṣarahita’ (faultless) and Dūṣaṇasahita’ (with demon Dūṣaṇa). The contradiction, however, is only verbal in both cases and constitutes a figure of speech known by the name ‘Virodha’ or ‘Virodhābhāsa’. This has an indirect reference to the churning of the ocean of milk as described in the Purāṇas, by the joint labours of gods and demons at the beginning of creation, which yielded beneficent objects like nectar, the moon and the cow of plenty, on the one hand, and pernicious substances like poison and wine, on the other. I revere all the four Vedas, barks as it were, for crossing the ocean of mundane existence and which never dream of weariness in singing the pure glories of Śrī Raghunātha. (14-E) I revere the dust on the feet of Brahmā (the Creator), who has evolved the ocean of worldly existence, the birthplace of nectar, the moon and the cow of plenty in the form of saints, on the one hand, and of poison and wine in the form of the wicked, on the other. (14-F) Making obeisance to the feet of gods, the Brāhmaṇas, wise men and the deities presiding over the nine planets, I pray to them with folded hands! Be pleased to accomplish all my noble desires. (14-G)