Bala Kanda, Sarga 24

Meaning

Placing in the forefront Viśwāmitra, who had just finished his daily routine of monrning devotions, the two brothers, who were capable of subduing their enemies, arrived at the bank of the river Gaṅgā. (1)

Meaning

Getting an excellent boat to ferry them across, all the high-souled sages of austere vows, mentioned above, forthwith spoke to Viśwāmitra as follows : (2)

Meaning

“Board you the boat followed by the king’s sons and, having crossed the river, proceed on your journey at an auspicious moment. Let there be no loss of time.” (3)

Meaning

Saying “Amen !” and returning the salutations of those seers assembled to see them off with honour, Viśwāmitra, accompanied by the two brothers, began to cross the river Gaṅgā (hastening to meet the ocean). (4)

Meaning

Reaching the middle of the stream, the highly glorious Rāma alongwith Lakṣmaṇa (the younger of the two) distinctly heard on the river a noise enhanced by the agitation caused by the striking of waves against one another, and felt eager to know the definite cause of the noise. In mid stream Śrī Rāma presently questioned in the following words Viśwāmitra, the foremost of hermits : (5-6)

Meaning

“What is the cause of this tumultuous noise ostensibly proceeding from a volume of water striking one against another?” Hearing the inquiry of Śrī Rāma, marked with curiosity, the sage, whose mind is given to piety, stated as follows the definite cause of that noise : “There exists, O Rāma, on Mount Kailāsa a great lake created by Brahmā (the creator) with his mind, hence it is known by the name of Mānasa (born of the mind), O tiger among men ! A river named Sarayū—so-called because it has its source in a lake (सरसो यौति or याति) and hallowed in that it has flowed from a lake created by Brahmā—emanated from that lake. It encircles Ayodhyā on all sides except the south. This sound, which has no parallel, proceeds from the violent commotion caused by the onrush of its waters even as it rushes to meet the Jāhnavī, Gaṅgā, so-called because it was drunk off by the sage Jahnu, whose sacrificial grounds were inundated by it, and was later released by him through his ears. Offer salutation to the two rivers where they meet with a concentrated mind, O Rāma !” Offering salutation to the two streams united with one another and reaching the southern bank of the Gaṅgā, the two brothers, exceptionally pious as they were, proceeded on their onward journey with quick paces alongwith Viśwāmitra. Beholding a forest of terrible aspect and unfrequented by men, Śrī Rāma (the son of a king, the foremost of men), a scion of Ikṣwāku, questioned as follows Viśwāmitra, a jewel among sages : “Oh ! this forest is difficult of access ! It is swarmed with crickets and infested by fierce beasts of prey and vultures raising harsh notes and various other kinds of birds uttering fierce cries. (7—14)

Meaning

“What could possibly be this fearful forest graced with lions, tigers and boars, as well as with elephants, and thickly set with Dhavas, Aśwakarṇas, Kakubhas (Arjunas), Bilvas, Tindukas, Pāṭalas and jujubes?” The great sage Viśwāmitra, possessed as he was of exceptional glory, replied to him as follows : (15-16)

Meaning

“Hear, O darling, of the being to whom this forest belongs, O Rāma ! Here on this land, O jewel among men, there existed in the former days two prosperous kingdoms, the Malada and the Karūṣa by name, brought into existence by the effort of gods. In the ancient times, when the demon Vṛtra was killed in battle by Indra, the sin of killing a Brāhmaṇa laid hold of Indra (distinguished by a thousand eyes), who was accordingly overcome with impurity and hunger. The gods and the Ṛṣis rich in askesis bathed the aforesaid Indra, impure as he was (through sin, with jars full of water of the holy Gaṅgā, further consecrated by the utterance of sacred texts and washed off his impurity thereby. Depositing the impurity as well as the pangs of hunger fallen off from the body of the great Indra in this tract of land, the gods derived joy thereby. And Indra, for his part, was completely rid of his impurity and hunger. (17—21)

Meaning

Highly pleased at this Indra thereupon conferred the following superb boon on the two tracts of land : “These two stretches of land, that have imbibed my impurity, will grow prosperous and will be known in the world by the names of Malada and Karūṣa.” Seeing that honour conferred on those tracts of land by the wise Indra, the gods, for their part, applauded the celebrated Indra (the chastiser of the demon Pāka) in the words “Well done ! good !!” For a considerable length of time, O subbuer of foes, these two territories, Malada and Karūṣa, thenceforword continued to be prosperous, and rich in wealth and foodgrains. Now, when some time had elapsed since the aforesaid incident, there appeared, in this region, so the tradition goes, a Yakṣa woman, Tāṭakā by name, capable of assuming any form at will and possessing at the very time of her birth the might of a thousand elephants, who is the wife of the wise Sunda, may good betide you, and whose son, the ogre Mārīca, possesses the strength of Indra and is endowed with round arms, a large head, an enormous mouth and a colossal body. The mighty Rākṣasa, who has a terrible form, is a perennial source of terror to the people; while Tāṭakā, who conducts herself like a wicked woman, constantly ravages these two principalities of Malada and Karūṣa, O scion of Raghu ! As such she lives in an area of twelve miles, obstructing the road. (22—29)

Meaning

“For this very reason let us proceed in the quarter where exists the forest of Tāṭakā. Relying on the might of your own arms, make short work of this ogress of wicked conduct. (30)

Meaning

“Under my order make this realm thornless as before. None is, really speaking, able to visit this land, though so holy and beautiful, tormented as it is by the terrible Yakṣa woman, who has grown so intolerable. In this way has been told by me everything that you asked, viz., how this forest looks so fearful, how the entire region has been laid waste by the Yakṣa woman and how she does not desist from her nefarious activities even to this day.” (31-32)