Kishkindha Kanda, Sarga 55

Meaning

Hearing the utterance of Hanumān, which was courteous and conformable to righteousness and was full of deference to his master, Aṅgada replied as follows : (1)

Meaning

“Stability, purity of body and mind, absence of cruelty and guilelessness, nay, valour and fortitude too are out of the question in Sugrīva, who for his part took to wife, detested as he is, his veritable mother from the moral point of view, the beloved queen of his elder brother—while he was still alive. (2-3)

Meaning

“How does he know what is right, by whom, evil-minded as he is, the opening of the cave was closed even though he had been enjoined by his brother—while the latter was going to meet his enemy for an encounter to guard the entrance? (4)

Meaning

“Whose good offices will he remember with gratitude, by whom even the highly illustrious Śrī Rāma—(a scion of Raghu)—who had been accepted as a friend by clasping the hand in the name of truth and who had rendered good offices to him—was put out of the mind? (5)

Meaning

“How can piety exist in him, by whom Sītā was ordered to be searched for on this occasion from fear of Lakṣmaṇa and not because he was seized with the fear of incurring sin (accruing from infidelity to a beneficent friend)? (6)

Meaning

“What noble soul, particularly one born in his own race will ever repose trust in that sinful, ungrateful and fickle monkey, who has cast to the winds all moral codes? (7)

Meaning

“How can Sugrīva suffer me to live after installing on the throne (as Prince Regent) me, his (adopted) son, sprung from the loins of his mortal foe, no matter whether he (Sugrīva) is full of virtues or devoid of them? (8)

Meaning

“Reaching Kiṣkindhā back how shall I actually survive like a forlorn and weak creature, I, whose rebellious plans have leaked out, nay, who has committed an offence of treason and whose strength has been shattered by sowing dissension among my followers? (9)

Meaning

“Sugrīva—who is wily, fierce and merciless, will surely sentence me if not to death, at least to some secret punishment, such as putting me in chains for the sake of retaining his sovereignty. (10)

Meaning

“Fasting till death is preferable in my eyes to confinement and frustration caused by it. Hence let all the monkeys present here bid adieu to me and return home.(11)

Meaning

“I solemnly declare to you that I will not return to the capital (Kiṣkindhā) but will observe a fast till death at this very place. Death is certainly best for me. (12)

Meaning

“After salutation, of course, the king (Sugrīva) should be apprised of my welfare only and even so the two mighty scions of Raghu too should be apprised of my welfare after salutation. (13)

Meaning

“My younger father, Sugrīva, the lord of monkeys, as well as my younger mother, Rumā, should be told of my welfare after apprising them of my health. (14)

Meaning

“You ought to console my real mother Tārā too. The poor lady is by her very nature fond of her son (myself) and full of compassion. (15)

Meaning

“She will evidently give up the ghost on hearing of my being dead.” Saying this much and greeting the aforesaid elderly monkeys, Aṅgada sank down weeping on the ground on blades of the sacred Kuśa grass, his countenance woe begone. As he sat down there, the foremost of monkeys shed burning tears profusely from their eyes, sobbing at the same time in distress. Denouncing Sugrīva and also praising Vālī and surrounding Aṅgada, all resolved to starve themselves to death. Reflecting on the aforesaid utterance of Aṅgada (the son of Vālī) and sipping water in order to consecrate themselves, all the leaders of monkeys sat down comfortably, their faces turned towards the east, on blades of the sacred Kuśa grass with their ends pointing towards the south, taking up their position on the northern shore of the Indian Ocean. (16—20)

Meaning

Those jewels among the monkeys, willing as they were to die, thought, they say, that the aforesaid was the course desirable for them. As the monkeys were talking of Śrī Rāma’s exile and also of Daśaratha’s death, nay, also of the carnage in Janasthāna as well as of the abduction of Sītā (a princess of the territory of Videha) as also of the slaying of Jaṭāyu and even so of the killing of Vālī and then of the wrath of Śrī Rāma, another danger stared them in the face. (21-22)

Meaning

With those numerous monkeys, who themselves resembled the peaks of huge mountains, sitting down and roaring in dismay, the aforesaid mountain found the interior of its caves resonant and presented the appearance of the sky resounding with the sound of thundering clouds. (23)