Chapter XI - Consolation of rama

Viswamitra said:—

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If such is the case, you who are intelligent, may go at once, and persuade that progeny of Raghu to come hither; as they do one deer by others (of the train).

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This stupor of Rama is not caused by any (external) accident or (inward) affection; it is I think the development of that superior intellect which rises from the right reasoning of dispassionate men.

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Let Rama come here for a while, and here shall we in a moment dispel the delusion (of his mind), as the wind drives away the clouds from the mountain-tops.

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After his hebetude is removed by my reasoning, he shall be enabled to repose in that happy state of mind, to which we have arrived.

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He shall not only attain to pure truth and a clear understanding of uninterrupted tranquility, but secure to himself a plumpness and beauteousness of his figure and complexion, as one derives from a potion of ambrosia.

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He will then attend with all his heart to the full discharge of the proper course of his duties without remission, which will redound to his honour.

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He will become strong with a knowledge of both worlds, and his exemption from the states of pleasure and pain, and then he will look upon gold and stones with an indifferent eye.

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After the chief of the sages had spoken in this manner, the king resumed the firmness of his mind, and sent heralds after heralds to bring Rama to him.

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By this very time Rama was preparing to rise from his seat in the palace to come over to his father, in the manner that the sun rises from the mountain in the east.

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Surrounded by a few of his servants, he came with his two brothers to the hallowed hall of his father, resembling the heaven of the king of gods.

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He saw at a distance his kingly sire seated amidst the assemblage of princes, as Indra surrounded by the gods.

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He was accompanied on either side by the sages Vasishtha and Viswamitra, and respectfully attended by his staff of ministers, all well versed in the interpretation of all Sastras.

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He was fanned by charming damsels, waving the fine chowry flappers in their hands, and equalling in beauty the goddesses presiding over the quarters of heaven.

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Vasishtha, Viswamitra and the other sages, with Dasaratha and his chiefs, saw Rama coming at a distance as beautiful as Skanda himself.

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He appeared by his qualities of mildness and gravity to resemble the mount Himalaya (with his cooling frost and firmness), and was esteemed by all for the depth and clearness (of his understanding).

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He was handsome and well proportioned (in his features), auspicious in his look, but humble and magnanimous in his mind. With loveliness and mildness of his person, he was possessed of all manly prowess.

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He was just developed to youth, yet he was as majestic as an elderly man. He was neither morose nor merry, but seemed to be fully satisfied with himself, as if he had obtained all the objects of his desire.

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He was a good judge of the world, and possessed of all holy virtues. The purity of his mind was the attraction for all the virtues which met in him.

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The receptacle of his mind was filled by his magnanimity and honourable virtues, and the candour of his conduct showed him in the light of perfection (to every body).

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Endowed with these various virtues and decorated by his necklace and fine apparel, Rama the support of Raghu's race, approached (his father) with a smiling countenance.

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He bowed his head to his father with the sparkling gems trembling in his locks, and imparting to his head the graceful appearance of the mountain Sumeru shaken by an earth-quake.

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The lotus-eyed Rama came up to salute the feet of his father, when the lord of the sages (Viswamitra) was speaking with him.

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First of all Rama saluted his father, and then the two honorable sages, he next saluted the Brahmanas, and then his relations, and lastly his elders and well wishing friends.

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He then received and returned the salutations of the chiefs and princes, bowing to him with graceful motion of their heads and respectful addresses.

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Rama of god-like beauty and equanimity of mind, approached the sacred presence of his father, with the blessings of the two sages.

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During the act of his saluting the feet of his father, the lord of the earth repeatedly kissed his head and face, and embraced him with fondness.

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At the same time, he the destroyer of his enemies, embraced Lakshmana and Satrughna, with as intense an affection as the swan embracing the lotus flowers.

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"Be you seated my son upon my lap", said the king to Rama, who however, took his seat on a fine piece of cloth spread on the floor by his servants.

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The king said "O my son and receptacle of blessings, you have attained the age of discretion, so put not yourself to that state of self-mortification, as the dull-headed do from their crazy understandings.

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Know that it is by following the course of his elders, guides and Brahmanas, that one attains to meritoriousness, and not by his persistence in error.

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So long will the train of our misfortunes lie at a distance, as we do not allow the seeds of error to have access to us."

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Vasishtha said, Oh strong armed prince! you are truly heroic to have conquered your worldly appetites, which are at once as difficult to be eradicated as they are fierce in their action.

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Why do you allow yourself like the unlearned, to be drowned in this rolling sea of errors, causing such dull inactivity in you?

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Viswamitra said "why are your eyes so unsteady (with doubts) as the tremulous clusters of blue lotuses. You ought to do away with this unsteadiness, and tell us what is that grief (which rankles) in your mind.

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"What are these thoughts, and what are their names and natures, their number and causes, that infest your mind like its maladies (in the same manner) as the mice undermine a fabric."

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I am disposed to think, that you are not the person to be troubled with those evils and distempers, to which the base and vile alone are subject.

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Tell me the craving of your heart, O sinless Rama! and they will be requited in a manner, as will prevent their recurrence to you.

Rama said:—

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the standard of Raghu's race having listened to the reasonable and graceful speech of the good-intentioned sage, shook off his sorrowing, like the peacock at the roaring of a cloud, in the hope of gaining his object.