Section SIX 
Sanskrit-English

INDIC POEMS - Quartet in Metapoeia
Rigveda Hymn:
Wielder of Thunder

Ramayana:
Rama & Ravana


Ashvagosha:
Greatly Yearning

Magha:
Sound & Sense

 

Vajri
Indrasya nu viriani
     pra vacam
yani cakara prathamani
     vajri;
Aharn Ahim anu
     apas tatarda
pra vaksana abhinat
     parvatanam.

                   
Rama Ravana
Sagaram cambaraprakhyam
   ambaram sagaropamam;
Ramaravanayor yuddham
   Ramaravanayor iva.

Mahatya... - Açvaghosa
Mahatya trsnaya duhkhair
garbhenasmi yaya dhrtah;
Tasya nisphalayatnayah
Kvaham matuh kva sa mama
.

Nalambate... - Magha
Nalambate daistikatani
   na nisidati pauruse;
Çabdarthau satkavir iva
   dvayam vidvan apeksate.

 

Wielder of Thunder
I now give voice to Indra's
       deeds of bravery,
The first that he performed,
       wielder of thunder:
He slew the dragon, and
       set the waters free;
Then tore the breast of the
       mountain asunder.


Rama & Ravana
The sea and sky, the sky and sea -
The one is the peer of the other;
Yet in their bitter rivalry
They're matched by Ram' & Ravana
.

Greatly Yearning - Ashvagosha
Greatly yearning - but painfully -
In her womb she carried me;
Yet 'twas fruitless - all said & done:
Why, was she mother? I her son?

Sound & Sense - Magha
He does not place his trust in fate,
Nor does he in Man's puissance;
As true poets match sound & sense,
So he the twain must cultivate.

 

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