Yuddha Kanda · Sarga 5 of 128 · 23 verses
Rama’s Longing by the Sea
Nila camps the army in good order on the northern shore, and Mainda and Dvivida patrol it. Rama turns to Lakshmana. Grief is said to fade with time, but his grows every day he does not see his beloved. It is not that she is far, or stolen, that pains him most, but that her youth is passing. He asks the wind to blow where she is, touch her, and then touch him; and he looks at the moon because she may be looking at it too. Her cry of “my lord!” as she was carried off burns his limbs like poison; the fire of love, fed by separation, burns him day and night. He would sleep in the sea to cool it. It is enough to live on that they share the same earth; like a dry field next to a watered one, he lives on the moisture of hearing that she is alive.
When will he see her again, lotus-eyed, after conquering his enemies? When will he lift her face and drink from it like a sick man taking medicine, and feel her embrace? Surely she, with him as her protector, is like one who has none, finding no rescuer among the rakshasas. How can the daughter of Janaka and daughter-in-law of Dasharatha lie among rakshasis? She will shake them off and rise, like the crescent moon from dark autumn clouds. When will he plant his arrows in Ravana’s chest and throw off his grief like a soiled garment? As he laments, the sun sets; comforted by Lakshmana, Rama performs the evening worship, still thinking of lotus-eyed Sita.
Press › to begin with verse 1.
सा तु नीलेन विधिवत्स्वारक्षा सुसमाहिता । सागरस्योत्तरे तीरे साधु सा विनिवेशिता ॥ १ ॥
That army was duly camped by Nila, well guarded and well ordered, on the northern shore of the ocean.
Commentary on the whole sarga
Rama’s Longing by the Sea 1 min read.
Read the commentary
मैन्दश्च द्विविदश्चोभौ तत्र वानरपुङ्गवौ । विचेरतुश्च तां सेनां रक्षार्थं सर्वतोदिशम् ॥ २ ॥
And Mainda and Dvivida, those two bulls among monkeys, moved through that army in every direction to guard it.
निविष्टायां तु सेनायां तीरे नदनदीपतेः । पार्श्वस्थं लक्ष्मणं दृष्ट्वा रामो वचनमब्रवीत् ॥ ३ ॥
When the army had camped on the shore of the lord of rivers and streams, Rama, seeing Lakshmana beside him, said:
शोकश्च किल कालेन गच्छता ह्यपगच्छति । मम चापश्यतः कान्तामहन्यहनि वर्धते ॥ ४ ॥
“Grief, they say, goes away with the passing of time; but mine, not seeing my beloved, grows day by day.
न मे दुःखं प्रिया दूरे न मे दुःखं हृतेति च । एतदेवानुशोचामि वयोऽस्या ह्यतिवर्तते ॥ ५ ॥
“It is not my pain that my beloved is far away, nor my pain that she was stolen; this is what I grieve for: her youth is passing.
वाहि वात यतः कान्ता तां स्पृष्ट्वा मामपि स्पृश । त्वयि मे गात्रसंस्पर्शश्चन्द्रे दृष्टिसमागमः ॥ ६ ॥
“Blow, wind, from where my beloved is; touch her, and touch me too. In you is the touch of our bodies; in the moon, the meeting of our eyes.
तन्मे दहति गात्राणि विषं पीतमिवाशये । हा नाथेति प्रिया सा मां ह्रियमाणा यदब्रवीत् ॥ ७ ॥
“That burns my limbs like poison drunk into the stomach: what my beloved said to me as she was carried off, ‘Ah, my lord!’
तद्वियोगेन्धनवता तच्चिन्ताविमलार्चिषा । रात्रिंदिवं शरीरं मे दह्यते मदनाग्निना ॥ ८ ॥
“With separation from her for fuel and thought of her for its bright flame, my body burns day and night with the fire of love.
अवगाह्यार्णवं स्वप्स्ये सौमित्रे भवता विना । एवं च प्रज्वलन् कामो न मा सुप्तं जले दहेत् ॥ ९ ॥
“I will plunge into the ocean and sleep there, Saumitri, without you; so the blazing fire of love may not burn me as I sleep in the water.
बह्वेतत् कामयानस्य शक्यमेतेन जीवितुम् । यदहं सा च वामोरुरेकां धरणिमाश्रितौ ॥ १० ॥
“This is a great deal for a lover: by this one can live, that she, the lovely-thighed, and I rest on the same earth.
केदारस्येवाकेदारः सोदकस्य निरूदकः । उपस्नेहेन जीवामि जीवन्तीं यच्छृणोमि ताम् ॥ ११ ॥
“Like an unwatered field beside a watered one, I live on the moisture, since I hear that she is alive.
कदा नु खलु सुश्रोणीं शतपत्रायतेक्षणाम् । विजित्य शत्रून् द्रक्ष्यामि सीतां स्फीतामिव श्रियम् ॥ १२ ॥
“When will I see Sita, lovely-hipped, with eyes long as a hundred-petalled lotus, like abundant fortune, having conquered my enemies?
कदा सुचारुदन्तोष्ठं तस्याः पद्ममिवाननम् । ईषदुन्नाम्य पास्यामि रसायनमिवातुरः ॥ १३ ॥
“When will I lift her lotus face a little, with its lovely teeth and lips, and drink from it like a sick man drinking an elixir?
तौ तस्याः सहितौ पीनौ स्तनौ तालफलोपमौ । कदा न खलु सोत्कम्पौ श्लिष्यन्त्या मां भजिष्यतः ॥ १४ ॥
“When will those full breasts of hers, pressed together, like palm fruits, tremble against me as she embraces me?
सा नूनमसितापाङ्गी रक्षोमध्यगता सती । मन्नाथा नाथहीनेव त्रातारं नाधिगच्छति ॥ १५ ॥
“Surely that dark-eyed lady, good woman, among the rakshasas, as if she had no protector though I am her protector, finds no rescuer.
कथं जनकराजस्य दुहिता मम च प्रिया । राक्षसीमध्यगा शेते स्नुषा दशरथस्य च ॥ १६ ॥
“How does the daughter of King Janaka, my beloved, the daughter-in-law of Dasharatha, lie among the rakshasis?
अविक्षोभ्याणि रक्षांसि सा विधूयोत्पतिष्यति । विधूय जलदान् नीलान् शशिलेखा शरत्स्विव ॥ १७ ॥
“She will shake off the unshakeable rakshasas and rise, like the crescent moon in autumn shaking off the dark clouds.
स्वभावतनुका नूनं शोकेनानशनेन च । भूयस्तनुतरा सीता देशकालविपर्ययात् ॥ १८ ॥
“Slender by nature, Sita has surely grown thinner still through grief and fasting, and the reversal of place and time.
कदा नु राक्षसेन्द्रस्य निधायोरसि सायकान् । शोकं प्रत्याहरिष्यामि शोकमुत्सृज्य मानसम् ॥ १९ ॥
“When will I plant my arrows in the chest of the king of the rakshasas, throw off the grief in my mind, and take away her grief?
कदा नु खलु मे साध्वी सीतामरसुतोपमा । सोत्कण्ठा कण्ठमालम्ब्य मोक्ष्यत्यानन्दजं जलम् ॥ २० ॥
“When will my virtuous Sita, like a daughter of the immortals, longing, cling to my neck and shed tears of joy?
कदा शोकमिमं घोरं मैथिलीविप्रयोगजम् । सहसा विप्रमोक्ष्यामि वासः शुक्लेतरं यथा ॥ २१ ॥
“When will I suddenly throw off this terrible grief born of separation from Maithili, as one throws off a soiled garment?”
एवं विलपतस्तस्य तत्र रामस्य धीमतः । दिनक्षयान्मन्दवपुर्भास्करोऽस्तमुपागमत् ॥ २२ ॥
As wise Rama lamented so there, the sun, its body dimmed at the close of day, went to its setting.
आश्वासितो लक्ष्मणेन रामः संध्यामुपासत । स्मरन् कमलपत्राक्षीं सीतां शोकाकुलीकृतः ॥ २३ ॥
Comforted by Lakshmana, Rama performed the evening worship, remembering lotus-eyed Sita, overwhelmed by grief.