Aranya Kanda, Sarga 48

Meaning

Knitting his brows on his forehead while Sītā was speaking as aforesaid, Rāvaṇa felt provoked and replied in the following harsh words : so the tradition goes : (1)

Meaning

“Good luck to you, O lady of excellent complexion ! I am the glorious ten-headed half-brother of Kubera (son of Sage Viśravā), Rāvaṇa by name, from whom gods including Gandharvas, nay, fiends, birds and serpents ever flee in terror as created beings are always afraid of death, nay, provoked by whom to a conflict on some excuse, his half-brother, Kubera (son of Sage Viśravā) was assailed and utterly vanquished. (2—4)

Meaning

“Deserting for good his sumptuous abode, Laṅkā, stricken as he was with fear of me, Kubera (who is carried from place to place on a palanquin borne by human beings) dwells on the top of Kailāsa, the foremost of mountains. (5)

Meaning

“His celebrated and beautiful aerial car, Puṣpaka by name, which can go wherever one likes, and in which I range the skies, was snatched by me by dint of my prowess, O good lady ! (6)

Meaning

“Alarmed to see my very face when I am provoked to anger, gods headed by Indra take to flight, O princess of Mithilā ! (7)

Meaning

“Wheresoever I halt, the wind blows gently through apprehension and the sun with its fierce rays is transformed into the moon (because of its cool rays) in the heavens. (8)

Meaning

“Nay, wherever I stay and move, the trees find their leaves motionless and the rivers find their waters still. (9)

Meaning

“Beyond the sea stands my beautiful capital, Laṅkā by name, vying with Amarāvatī, the capital of Indra, and full of fierce ogres. (10)

Meaning

“Enclosed and beautified by a white enclosure wall, the city looks charming with the inner apartments of its houses built of gold and outer gates made of cat’s-eye jewels. (11)

Meaning

“The city is crowded with elephants, horses and chariots and rendered noisy by the sound of musical instruments of every description; nay, it abounds in trees yielding all kinds of coveted fruits and is beautified by gardens. (12)

Meaning

“Dwell you there with me, O princess Sītā ! There you will no longer remember mortal women, O proud lady ! (13)

Meaning

“Enjoying human as well as celestial delights, you will no longer think of the mortal Rāma, whose life has now well-nigh departed, O lady of excellent complexion ! (14)

Meaning

“What use can you have for the aforesaid Rāma, an ascetic practising austerities, who has lost his sovereignty and consequently been deprived of his reasoning faculty, and who, possessed as he was of negligible prowess, though the eldest son of his father, was consequently sent into exile to the forest by King Daśaratha after installing on the throne as Prince Regent his pet son, Bharata, O large-eyed lady? (15-16)

Meaning

“Save the lord of ogres, i.e., myself, who has sought you in person, and love him. You ought not to spurn me, overpowered as I am by shafts of love. (17)

Meaning

“Spurning me, O timid one, you will surely suffer contrition as did Urvaśī on having kicked King Purūravā. (18)

Meaning

“The mortal Rāma is not equal even to my finger on the field of battle. Therefore, accept me, who have sought you by your good luck, O lady with an excellent complexion !” (19)

Meaning

Enraged when spoken to as aforesaid, Sītā, a princess of the Videha territory, for her part with blood-red eyes addressed the following harsh words to Rāvaṇa, the suzerain lord of ogres, in that lonely place : (20)

Meaning

“How after calling god Kubera (son of Viśravā), who is hailed by all gods, your (half-) brother, do you seek to perpetrate a foul deed? (21)

Meaning

“All ogres, O Rāvaṇa, will inevitably perish inasmuch as you, who are so hard-hearted and evil-minded and have not been able to subdue your senses, are their ruler. (22)

Meaning

“It may be possible to survive on abducting Śacī, the consort of Indra, the lord of paradise; but none can survive peacefully after carrying away me, the consort of Śrī Rāma. (23)

Meaning

“Having laid one’s hands on Śacī, the consort of Indra, the wielder of the thunderbolt, of peerless beauty, one might survive long, but on treating with indignity a woman like me there is no escape from death for you even though you have quaffed the drink of immortality, O ogre ! (24)