Nriga's Farewell to His Son

Shloka 1 (uttara.54.1)

रामस्य भाषितं श्रुत्वा लक्ष्मणः परमार्थवित् । उवाच प्राञ्जलिर्वाक्यं राघवं दीप्ततेजसम् ।। 54.1 ।।

rāmasya bhāṣitaṃ śrutvā lakṣmaṇaḥ paramārthavit | uvāca prāñjalirvākyaṃ rāghavaṃ dīptatejasam || 54.1 ||

Hearing Rama's words, Lakshmana, knower of the highest truth, spoke this word, hands joined, to Raghava of blazing splendour.

Shloka 2 (uttara.54.2)

अल्पापराधे काकुत्स्थ द्विजाभ्यां शाप ईदृशः । महान्नृगस्य राजर्षेर्यमदण्ड इवापरः ।। 54.2 ।।

alpāparādhe kākutstha dvijābhyāṃ śāpa īdṛśaḥ | mahānnṛgasya rājarṣeryamadaṇḍa ivāparaḥ || 54.2 ||

"For so small a fault, O Kakutstha, this curse laid by the two brahmins upon the royal seer Nriga is so great — like a very sentence of Yama himself.

Shloka 3 (uttara.54.3)

श्रुत्वा तु पापसंयुक्तमात्मानं पुरषर्षभ । किमुवाच नृगो राजा द्विजौ क्रोधसमन्वितौ ।। 54.3 ।।

śrutvā tu pāpasaṃyuktamātmānaṃ puruṣarṣabha | kimuvāca nṛgo rājā dvijau krodhasamanvitau || 54.3 ||

On hearing himself thus charged with sin, O bull among men, what did King Nriga say to those two wrathful brahmins?"

Shloka 4 (uttara.54.4)

लक्ष्मणेनैवमुक्तस्तु राघवः पुनरब्रवीत् । शृणु सौम्य यथा पूर्वं स राजा शापविक्षतः ।। 54.4 ।।

lakṣmaṇenaivamuktastu rāghavaḥ punarabravīt | śṛṇu saumya yathā pūrvaṃ sa rājā śāpavikṣataḥ || 54.4 ||

Thus addressed by Lakshmana, Raghava spoke again: "Listen, gentle one, to what that king, wounded by the curse, said before.

Shloka 5 (uttara.54.5)

अथाध्वनि गतौ विप्रौ विज्ञाय स नृगस्तदा । आहूय मन्त्रिणः सर्वान्नैगमान्सपुरोधसः ।। 54.5 ।।

athādhvani gatau viprau vijñāya sa nṛgastadā | āhūya mantriṇaḥ sarvānnaigamānsapurodhasaḥ || 54.5 ||

Then, learning that those two brahmins had already departed on their way, Nriga summoned all his ministers, the townsmen, and the priest together with them.

Shloka 6 (uttara.54.6)

तानुवाच नृगो राजा सर्वाश्च प्रकृतीस्तथा । दुःखेन सुसमाविष्टः श्रूयतां मे समाहितैः ।। 54.6 ।।

tānuvāca nṛgo rājā sarvāśca prakṛtīstathā | duḥkhena susamāviṣṭaḥ śrūyatāṃ me samāhitaiḥ || 54.6 ||

King Nriga, deeply overcome with sorrow, said to them and to all his subjects: "Listen to me attentively.

Shloka 7 (uttara.54.7)

नारदः पर्वतश्चैव मम दत्त्वा महद्भयम् । गतौ त्रिभुवनं भद्रौ वायुभूतावनिन्दितौ ।। 54.7 ।।

nāradaḥ parvataścaiva mama dattvā mahadbhayam | gatau tribhuvanaṃ bhadrau vāyubhūtāvanindito || 54.7 ||

Narada and Parvata, those two blameless, gracious sages, having given me great terror, have gone off, swift as the wind, through the three worlds.

Shloka 8 (uttara.54.8)

कुमारो ऽयं वसुर्नाम स देवो ऽद्याभिषिच्यताम् । श्वभ्रं च यत्सुखस्पर्शं क्रियतां शिल्पिभिर्मम । यत्राहं सङ्क्षयिष्यामि शापं ब्राह्मणनिःसृतम् ।। 54.8 ।।

kumāro 'yaṃ vasurnāma sa devo 'dyābhiṣicyatām | śvabhraṃ ca yatsukhasparśaṃ kriyatāṃ śilpibhirmama | yatrāhaṃ saṅkṣayiṣyāmi śāpaṃ brāhmaṇaniḥsṛtam || 54.8 ||

Let this prince, named Vasu, godlike as he is, be consecrated this very day. And let a pit be made by my craftsmen, one pleasant to the touch, wherein I shall wear away the curse that has issued from the brahmins.

Shloka 9 (uttara.54.9)

वर्षघ्नमेकं श्वभ्रं तु हिमघ्नमपरं तथा । ग्रीष्मघ्नं तु सुखस्पर्शमेकं कुर्वन्तु शिल्पिनः ।। 54.9 ।।

varṣaghnamekaṃ śvabhraṃ tu himaghnamaparaṃ tathā | grīṣmaghnaṃ tu sukhasparśamekaṃ kurvantu śilpinaḥ || 54.9 ||

Let the craftsmen make one pit that wards off the rains, another that wards off the cold, and one that wards off the summer heat, pleasant to the touch.

Shloka 10 (uttara.54.10)

फलवन्तश्च ये वृक्षाः पुष्पवत्यश्च या लताः । विरोप्यन्तां बहुविधाश्छायावन्तश्च गुल्मिनः ।। 54.10 ।।

phalavantaśca ye vṛkṣāḥ puṣpavatyaśca yā latāḥ | viropyantāṃ bahuvidhāśchāyāvantaśca gulminaḥ || 54.10 ||

And let fruit-bearing trees, flowering creepers, and many kinds of shady shrubs be planted there, of various sorts.

Shloka 11 (uttara.54.11)

क्रियतां रमणीयं च श्वभ्राणां सर्वतोदिशम् । सुखमत्र वसिष्यामि यावत्कालस्य पर्ययः ।। 54.11 ।।

kriyatāṃ ramaṇīyaṃ ca śvabhrāṇāṃ sarvatodiśam | sukhamatra vasiṣyāmi yāvatkālasya paryayaḥ || 54.11 ||

Let it be made delightful in every direction around those pits. There I shall dwell in comfort until the turning of time comes round.

Shloka 12 (uttara.54.12)

पुष्पाणि च सुगन्धीनि क्रियतां तेषु नित्यशः । परिवार्य यथा मे स्युरध्यर्धं योजनं तथा ।। 54.12 ।।

puṣpāṇi ca sugandhīni kriyatāṃ teṣu nityaśaḥ | parivārya yathā me syuradhyardhaṃ yojanaṃ tathā || 54.12 ||

And let fragrant flowers be placed there always, arranged so that they surround me for a distance of a league and a half.

Shloka 13 (uttara.54.13)

एवं कृत्वा विधानं स सन्दिदेश वसं तदा । धर्मनित्यः प्रजाः पुत्र क्षत्रधर्मेण पालय ।। 54.13 ।।

evaṃ kṛtvā vidhānaṃ sa sandideśa vasaṃ tadā | dharmanityaḥ prajāḥ putra kṣatradharmeṇa pālaya || 54.13 ||

Having thus made these arrangements, he then instructed Vasu: "My son, ever steadfast in dharma, protect the people according to the duty of a kshatriya.

Shloka 14 (uttara.54.14)

प्रत्यक्षं ते यथा शापो द्विजाभ्यां मयि पातितः । नरश्रेष्ठ सरोषाभ्यामपराधे ऽपि तादृशे ।। 54.14 ।।

pratyakṣaṃ te yathā śāpo dvijābhyāṃ mayi pātitaḥ | naraśreṣṭha saroṣābhyāmaparādhe 'pi tādṛśe || 54.14 ||

You have seen with your own eyes, O best of men, how, even for so slight a fault, those two brahmins, in their wrath, laid this curse upon me.

Shloka 15 (uttara.54.15)

मा कृथास्तनुसन्तापं मत्कृते ऽपि नरर्षभ । कृतान्तः कुशलः पुत्र येनास्मि व्यसनीकृतः ।। 54.15 ।।

mā kṛthāstanusantāpaṃ matkṛte 'pi nararṣabha | kṛtāntaḥ kuśalaḥ putra yenāsmi vyasanīkṛtaḥ || 54.15 ||

Do not, O bull among men, grieve in body on my account. It is destiny's own working, my son, by which I have been brought to this misfortune.

Shloka 16 (uttara.54.16)

प्राप्तव्यान्येव प्राप्नोति गन्तव्यान्येव गच्छति । लब्धव्यान्येव लभते दुःखानि च सुखानि च ।। 54.16 ।।

prāptavyānyeva prāpnoti gantavyānyeva gacchati | labdhavyānyeva labhate duḥkhāni ca sukhāni ca || 54.16 ||

A man obtains only what is destined to be obtained, goes only where he is destined to go, gains only what is destined to be gained — whether sorrows or joys.

Shloka 17 (uttara.54.17)

पूर्वे जात्यन्तरे वत्स मा विषादं कुरुष्व ह ।। 54.17 ।।

pūrve jātyantare vatsa mā viṣādaṃ kuruṣva ha || 54.17 ||

This is but the fruit of a former birth, my child; do not grieve over it."

Shloka 18 (uttara.54.18)

एवमुक्त्वा नृपस्तत्र सुतं राजा महायशाः । श्वभ्रं जगाम सुकृतं वासाय पुरुषर्षभ ।। 54.18 ।।

evamuktvā nṛpastatra sutaṃ rājā mahāyaśāḥ | śvabhraṃ jagāma sukṛtaṃ vāsāya puruṣarṣabha || 54.18 ||

Having thus spoken to his son, O bull among men, that king of great renown went there to the well-made pit to dwell.

Shloka 19 (uttara.54.19)

एवं प्रविश्यैव नृपस्तदानीं श्वभ्रं महारत्नविभूषितं तत् । सम्पादयामास तदा महात्मा शापं द्विजाभ्यां हि रुषा विमुक्तम् ।। 54.19 ।।

evaṃ praviśyaiva nṛpastadānīṃ śvabhraṃ mahāratnavibhūṣitaṃ tat | sampādayāmāsa tadā mahātmā śāpaṃ dvijābhyāṃ hi ruṣā vimuktam || 54.19 ||

Thus, entering that pit adorned with great jewels, that great-souled king then set about undergoing the curse that had, in their anger, been laid upon him by the two brahmins.