Kishkindha Kanda, Sarga 21

Meaning

Thereupon Hanumān, a commander of monkey hordes, slowly comforted (as follows) Tārā, who lay fallen on the ground and shone like a star dropped from the heavens : (1)

Meaning

Hanumān pleaded : “An embodied soul steadily reaps on departing from this world all the good and evil fruit of his actions done under the notion of virtue or vice and with an eye to their good or evil consequences. (2)

Meaning

“Yourself worth grieving for, whom else do you grieve for as pitiable and, yourself miserable, what miserable beings do you commiserate? This body being evanescent like a bubble, who is worth grieving for and to whom? (3)

Meaning

“This boy, Aṅgada, for his part should be looked after by you, the mother of a surviving son. Please also bestow your thought on the rites that should be performed by you hereafter for the good of Vālī, in the other world. (4)

Meaning

“You know the birth and death of created beings to be indefinite; therefore, O wise lady, only that which yields good results hereafter should be done on these occasions of bereavement from one’s near and dear ones and nothing which is purely worldly such as wailing and crying for a departed soul. (5)

Meaning

“This Vālī, on whom hundreds of thousands, nay, hundreds of millions of monkeys depended with their hopes centred in him, has reached the end of his allotted span of life. (6)

Meaning

“Since Vālī, who attended to the affairs of his state in conformity with the principles of equity and was intent on giving solace to the afflicted, bestowing gifts on the needy and forgiving the wrongdoer—is sure to ascend to the realm of those who have scored a victory through righteousness, you ought not to grieve for him. (7)

Meaning

“Nay, all the tigers among monkeys as well as this son of yours, Aṅgada, and the kingdom of the monkeys and the bears have their protector in you, O irreproachable lady ! (8)

Meaning

“Gradually spur on to activity these two, Sugrīva and Aṅgada, who are distracted with grief, O good lady ! Let Aṅgada, taken by the hand by you, rule the earth. (9)

Meaning

“Let all that for which a male offspring is commended in the scriptures and which is salutary for the deceased king in the other world be gone through: this is the decree of Time. Vālī (the king of monkeys) ought in every case to be cremated and let Aṅgada be installed on the throne. Beholding your son seated on the throne you will have peace of mind.” (10-11)

Meaning

Hearing the admonition of Hanumān, the celebrated Tārā, who was afflicted due to the evil plight of her husband, made the following reply to Hanumān, standing near : (12)

Meaning

“Let there be on one side full one hundred of sons like Aṅgada. Clasping to the bosom the limbs of this hero, even though he has been killed, is, however, preferable to them in my eyes. (13)

Meaning

“I have no power over the kingdom of monkeys nor over the installation of Aṅgada. His uncle, Sugrīva, is the authority in all matters and proximate to him. (14)

Meaning

“This conclusion of yours with regard to Aṅgada (viz., that he is to be installed on the throne by me) is not worth maintaining; for, the father and in his absence an uncle is the friend (helper) of a son, and not the mother, O jewel among the monkeys ! (15)

Meaning

“Indeed nothing is more advisable for me in this world or the next than to follow Vālī, the king of monkeys. This bed, in the form of the bare ground, used by the heroic Vālī, slain facing his enemy, is fit to be shared by me.” (16)