Jarita's Lament

Verse 1 (1.256.1)

ततः प्रज्वलिते वह्नौ शार्ङ्गकास्ते सुदुःखिताः । व्यथिताः परमोद्विग्ना नाधिजग्मुः परायणम् ॥

tataḥ prajvalite vahnau śārṅgakāste suduḥkhitāḥ | vyathitāḥ paramodvignā nādhijagmuḥ parāyaṇam

Then, as the fire blazed up, the Sharngakas, in deep distress, tormented and terrified, found no refuge.

Verse 2 (1.256.2)

निशाम्य पुत्रकान्बालान्माता तेषां तपस्विनी । जरिता शोकदुःखार्ता विललाप सुदुःखिता ॥

niśāmya putrakānbālānmātā teṣāṃ tapasvinī | jaritā śokaduḥkhārtā vilalāpa suduḥkhitā

Seeing her little sons, their mother, the poor Jarita, stricken with grief and sorrow, lamented in great distress:

Verse 3 (1.256.3)

अयमग्निर्दहन्कक्षमित आयाति भीषणः । जगत्संदीपयन्भीमो मम दुःखविवर्धनः ॥

ayamagnirdahankakṣamita āyāti bhīṣaṇaḥ | jagatsaṃdīpayanbhīmo mama duḥkhavivardhanaḥ

"Here comes this dreadful fire this way, burning the brushwood, terrible, setting the world aflame and swelling my sorrow.

Verse 4 (1.256.4)

इमे च मां कर्षयन्ति शिशवो मन्दचेतसः । अबर्हाश्चरणैर्हीनाः पूर्वेषां नः परायणाः ॥

ime ca māṃ karṣayanti śiśavo mandacetasaḥ | abarhāścaraṇairhīnāḥ pūrveṣāṃ naḥ parāyaṇāḥ

And these children, too young to understand, tug at me: featherless and unable to walk, the only hope of our ancestors.

Note on the text: = 1.221.4abcd of the critical edition (aligned by hand).

Verse 5 (1.256.5)

त्रासयंश्चायमायाति लेलिहानो महीरुहान् । अजातपक्षाश्च सुता न शक्ताः सरणे मम ॥

trāsayaṃścāyamāyāti lelihāno mahīruhān | ajātapakṣāśca sutā na śaktāḥ saraṇe mama

Here it comes, terrifying, licking at the trees. My sons, whose wings have not yet grown, cannot get away with me.

Note on the text: = 1.221.4ef + 1.221.5ab of the critical edition (aligned by hand; the second line reads differently there).

Verse 6 (1.256.6)

आदाय च न शक्नोमि पुत्रांस्तरितुमात्मना । न च त्यक्तुमहं शक्ता हृदयं दूयतीव मे ॥

ādāya ca na śaknomi putrāṃstaritumātmanā | na ca tyaktumahaṃ śaktā hṛdayaṃ dūyatīva me

Nor can I carry my sons and get across by myself; nor can I abandon them. My heart seems to burn.

Note on the text: = 1.221.5cd + 1.221.6ab of the critical edition (aligned by hand; the first line reads differently there).

Verse 7 (1.256.7)

कं तु जह्यामहं पुत्रं कमादाय व्रजाम्यहम् । किंनु मे स्यात्कृतं कृत्वा मन्यध्वं पुत्रकाः कथम् ॥

kaṃ tu jahyāmahaṃ putraṃ kamādāya vrajāmyaham | kiṃnu me syātkṛtaṃ kṛtvā manyadhvaṃ putrakāḥ katham

Which son should I abandon? Which should I take and go? What could I do that would be right? What do you think, my little sons?

Note on the text: = 1.221.6cd + 1.221.7ab of the critical edition (aligned by hand).

Verse 8 (1.256.8)

चिन्तयाना विमोक्षं वो नाधिगच्छामि किंचन । छादयिष्यामि वो गात्रैः करिष्ये मरणं सह ॥

cintayānā vimokṣaṃ vo nādhigacchāmi kiṃcana | chādayiṣyāmi vo gātraiḥ kariṣye maraṇaṃ saha

Though I think of how to set you free, I find no way at all. I will cover you with my body and die together with you.

Note on the text: = 1.221.7cdef of the critical edition (aligned by hand).

Verse 9 (1.256.9)

जरितारौ कुलं ह्येतज्ज्येष्ठत्वेन प्रतिष्ठितम् । सारिसृक्कः प्रजायेत पितॄणां कुलवर्धनः ॥

jaritārau kulaṃ hyetajjyeṣṭhatvena pratiṣṭhitam | sārisṛkkaḥ prajāyeta pitṝṇāṃ kulavardhanaḥ

'This line rests on Jaritari, as the eldest; Sarisrikka will be born to increase the line of the ancestors;

Verse 10 (1.256.10)

स्तम्बमित्रस्तपः कुर्याद्द्रोणो ब्रह्मविदां वरः । इत्येवमुक्त्वा प्रययौ पिता वो निर्घृणः पुरा ॥

stambamitrastapaḥ kuryāddroṇo brahmavidāṃ varaḥ | ityevamuktvā prayayau pitā vo nirghṛṇaḥ purā

Stambamitra will practise austerity, and Drona will be the best of those who know Brahman': saying this, your heartless father went away long ago."

Verse 11 (1.256.11)

कमुपादाय शक्येयं गन्तुं कष्टाऽऽपदुत्तमा । किं नु कृत्वा कृतं कार्यं भवेदिति च विह्वला । नापश्यत्स्वधिया मोक्षं स्वसुतानां तदानलात् ॥

kamupādāya śakyeyaṃ gantuṃ kaṣṭā''paduttamā | kiṃ nu kṛtvā kṛtaṃ kāryaṃ bhavediti ca vihvalā | nāpaśyatsvadhiyā mokṣaṃ svasutānāṃ tadānalāt

"Taking which of them could I go? Grievous is this calamity, the worst of all. What could I do that would count as duty done?" So she thought in her distress, but with all her wits she could see no way to free her sons from the fire.

Note on the text: Speaker set to Vaishampayana: Wikisource leaves this verse under Jarita's speech, but it is narration (iti … vihvalā … nāpaśyat, "so thinking, distraught, she saw no way"), as in the critical edition. = 1.221.10abcd + 1.221.11ab of the critical edition (aligned by hand; the first line reads differently there).

Verse 12 (1.256.12)

एवं ब्रुवाणां शार्ङ्गास्ते प्रत्यूचुरथ मातरम् । स्नेहमुत्सृज्य मातस्त्वं पत यत्र न हव्यवाट् ॥

evaṃ bruvāṇāṃ śārṅgāste pratyūcuratha mātaram | snehamutsṛjya mātastvaṃ pata yatra na havyavāṭ

As she spoke thus, the Sharngakas answered their mother: "Give up your love for us, mother, and fly to where the fire is not.

Note on the text: = 1.221.11cd + 1.221.12ab of the critical edition (aligned by hand).

Verse 13 (1.256.13)

अस्मास्विह विनष्टेषु भवितारः सुतास्तव । त्वयि मातर्विनष्टायां न नः स्यात्कुलसन्ततिः ॥

asmāsviha vinaṣṭeṣu bhavitāraḥ sutāstava | tvayi mātarvinaṣṭāyāṃ na naḥ syātkulasantatiḥ

If we perish here, you will have other sons; but if you perish, mother, our line will not go on.

Note on the text: Speaker set to the Sharngakas: their reply to Jarita begins in mid-verse in verse 12 (no speaker line in Wikisource) and fills verses 13–15. = 1.221.12cdef of the critical edition (aligned by hand).

Verse 14 (1.256.14)

अन्ववेक्ष्यैतदुभयं क्षेमं स्याद्यत्कुलस्य नः । तद्वै कर्तुं परः कालो मातरेष भवेत्तव ॥

anvavekṣyaitadubhayaṃ kṣemaṃ syādyatkulasya naḥ | tadvai kartuṃ paraḥ kālo mātareṣa bhavettava

Weighing both of these, do what is best for our line; this is the last moment for you to do it, mother.

Verse 15 (1.256.15)

मा त्वं सर्वविनाशाय स्नेहं कार्षीः सुतेषु नः । न हीदं कर्म मोघं स्याल्लोककामस्य नः पितुः ॥

mā tvaṃ sarvavināśāya snehaṃ kārṣīḥ suteṣu naḥ | na hīdaṃ karma moghaṃ syāllokakāmasya naḥ pituḥ

Do not, out of love for us your sons, bring ruin on all; this work of our father, who seeks the higher worlds, must not come to nothing."

Verse 16 (1.256.16)

इदमाखोर्बिलं भूमौ वृक्षस्यास्य समीपतः । तदाविशध्वं त्वरिता वह्नेरत्र न वो भयम् ॥

idamākhorbilaṃ bhūmau vṛkṣasyāsya samīpataḥ | tadāviśadhvaṃ tvaritā vahneratra na vo bhayam

"Here in the ground near this tree is a rat's hole. Get into it quickly; in there you need not fear the fire.

Verse 17 (1.256.17)

ततोऽहं पांसुना छिद्रमपिधास्यामि पुत्रकाः । एवं प्रतिकृतं मन्ये ज्वलतः कृष्णवर्त्मनः ॥

tato'haṃ pāṃsunā chidramapidhāsyāmi putrakāḥ | evaṃ pratikṛtaṃ manye jvalataḥ kṛṣṇavartmanaḥ

Then, my little sons, I will stop up the opening with earth. That, I think, is the remedy against the blazing fire whose track is black.

Verse 18 (1.256.18)

तत एष्याम्यतीतेऽग्नौ विहन्तुं पांसुसंचयम् । रोचतामेष वो वादो मोक्षार्थं च हुताशनात् ॥

tata eṣyāmyatīte'gnau vihantuṃ pāṃsusaṃcayam | rocatāmeṣa vo vādo mokṣārthaṃ ca hutāśanāt

Then, when the fire has passed, I will come back to clear away the heap of earth. Let this counsel of mine please you, as a way to escape the fire."

Note on the text: Corrected पांसुशंचयम् → पांसुसंचयम् (misprint in Wikisource; श for स in संचय, "heap", as in the critical edition's pāṃsusaṃcayam).

Verse 19 (1.256.19)

अबर्हान्मांसभूतान्नः क्रव्यादाखुर्विनाशयेत् । पश्यमाना भयमिदं प्रवेष्टुं नात्र शक्नुमः ॥

abarhānmāṃsabhūtānnaḥ kravyādākhurvināśayet | paśyamānā bhayamidaṃ praveṣṭuṃ nātra śaknumaḥ

"We are featherless, mere lumps of flesh; the flesh-eating rat would destroy us. Seeing this danger, we cannot go in there.

Verse 20 (1.256.20)

कथमग्निर्न नो धक्ष्येत्कथमाखुर्न नाशयेत् । कथं न स्यात्पिता मोघः कथं माता ध्रियेत नः ॥

kathamagnirna no dhakṣyetkathamākhurna nāśayet | kathaṃ na syātpitā moghaḥ kathaṃ mātā dhriyeta naḥ

How can the fire not burn us? How can the rat not destroy us? How can our father's labour not be in vain? How can our mother survive?

Verse 21 (1.256.21)

बिल आखोर्विनाशः स्यादग्नेराकाशचारिणाम् । अन्ववेक्ष्यैतदुभयं श्रेयान्दाहो न भक्षणम् ॥

bila ākhorvināśaḥ syādagnerākāśacāriṇām | anvavekṣyaitadubhayaṃ śreyāndāho na bhakṣaṇam

In the hole there is death from the rat; for creatures of the sky, death from the fire. Weighing the two, burning is better than being eaten.

Verse 22 (1.256.22)

गर्हितं मरणं नः स्यादाखुना भक्षिते बिले । शिष्टादिष्टः परित्यागः शरीरस्य हुताशनात् ॥

garhitaṃ maraṇaṃ naḥ syādākhunā bhakṣite bile | śiṣṭādiṣṭaḥ parityāgaḥ śarīrasya hutāśanāt

Our death would be shameful if we were eaten by the rat in the hole; but to give up the body to fire is approved by the wise.

Verse 23 (1.256.23)

अग्निदाहे तु नियतं ब्रह्मलोके ध्रुवा गतिः ॥

agnidāhe tu niyataṃ brahmaloke dhruvā gatiḥ

For one who dies in the fire, the way to the world of Brahma is certain."

Note on the text: Removed stray wiki quote marks (` and ') and a doubled danda that bracket the vulgate addition. A single line in Wikisource. Not in the critical edition (found in the vulgate recension); the CE records it only as an interpolation, star passage 2147*.