Ayodhya

“ Ere people come to know this proposal of exile, do thou secure the government of the kingdom unto thyself with me. Who can disturb the installation, Oh Rāghava, myself protecting thee by thy side with my bows, like unto Death himself. If any body stands here as an enemy, surely shall I, Oh best of men, depopulate the whole city of Ayodhyā with sharp arrows. I shall immolate all who shall stand by Bharata or wish him well—certainly mildness brings about discomfiture. If father being propitiated and excited by Kaikeyi, turns out to be our enemy, he shall be slain, without any hesitation. ”

“ O mighty monarch, distressed in consequence of the exile of Rāma, men appear sunk in dejection, and elephants and horses are spiritless; and seized with cheerlessness, they utter doleful sounds and heave profound sighs. Ayodhyā appeareth unto me joyless like Kauçalyā deprived of her son." Hearing the words of the charioteer, the king like one exceedingly forlorn, addressed the former in words lost in the vapour of sorrow, "Exhorted by Kaikeyi of a sinful country, born in a sinful race and cherishing sinful designs, I did not take counsel with aged people capable of offering advice. ”

“ Now he hearing the melodious utterances of genealogists and panegyrists and Brāhmanas versed in the Puranas, Rāma finished devotions for the prior twilight, and with an intent mind began to recite (Sāvatri) 113 And clad in a clear silk dress, he with bended head hymned the destroyer of Madhu, and made the regenerate ones perform the Swastivāchana ceremony. Already resounding with the blares of trumpets, Ayodhyā became filled with the sweet and solemn tones of the expression "Holy day" uttered by them. The denizens of Ayodhyā, hearing that Rāghava had fasted with Vaidehi, rejoiced exceedingly. ”

“ And clouds driven by the wind resembled the sea mounting the welkin; and the city shook on Rāma having departed for the forest. And the cardinal points are distressed, and appear enveloped in darkness. And no planet or star is to be seen. And all of a sudden the citizens have been striken with poverty: and no one turns his thoughts to eating or drinking. And ceaselessly burning in grief and heaving sighs, the people in Ayodhyā rage at the monarch. And with their faces washed in tears, the wayfarers betoken no delight, but all are being exercised with grief. ”

“ Reminding him, at last, of the necessity that both Sita and himself should pass the night in prayers and austerity, Dasaratha dismissed him, and Rama sought the presence and blessings of his mother, Kausalya, before returning finally to his own palace. There he was followed almost immediately by the priest of the royal family, with minute instructions for the evening observances, and the hours that remained were spent accordingly.
Now the news of the installation had gone out through all Ayodhya. The streets and thoroughfares were thronged with excited people. ”

“ Then Daśaratha's thoughtful care,
Before he parted thence,
Bade trusty servants homeward bear
The glad intelligence:—
"Let all the town be bright and gay,
With burning incense sweet;
Let banners wave, and water lay
The dust in every street."
Glad were the citizens to learn
The tidings of their lord's return,
And through the city every man
Obediently his task began.
And fair and bright Ayodhyá showed,
As following his guest he rode
Through the full streets, where shell and drum
Proclaimed aloud the King was come. ”

“ One cannot help feeling that it is the political greatness of Ayodhya and Pataliputra, each in its own period, that leads it to preach a new religion in the form of a definite incarnation of Vishnu—in the one case Rama, in the other Krishna. And if this be true, it lends an added interest to the fact that the worship of Sita-Rama has now its greatest following in the Dravida-desh. We may take it perhaps as a law that a religion is likely to survive longest and with greatest power, not in the region of its birth. ”

“ It is the general belief among the Paravas that their original country was Ayodhya, or Oudh; and it appears that, previously to the war of Mahābhārata, they inhabited the territory bordering on the river Yamuna or Jumna. At present they are chiefly found in the seaport towns of the Tinnevelly district in the south of India, and also in some of the provinces on the north-west coast of Ceylon. ”

“ And dost thou not contemn those weak ones that, O destroyer of thy foes, having been expelled, have come again (unto thee) ? And, my child, thou dost not minister unto atheistical Brāhmanas? These childish persons proud of their learning are only fit for bringing evils upon others. While there are excellent scriptures, these people of subtle intellects, having acquired a knowledge of dialectics, speak vanities. And, my child, dost thou protect the prosperous and renowned Ayodhyā, inhabited formerly by our heroic predecessors ”

“ A voice from heaven, however, tells him to be pacified, as Bali will be born as hunter in a future age, and kill Rama, who will then be Krishna: he is accordingly appeased. Rama is now seated on the throne of Ayodhya. After some time, he orders the exile of Sita. [Pg 55]
ANERGHA RAGHAVA or MURARI NATAKA.
The sage Viswamitra comes to Dasaratha, the king of Ayodhya, to request the aid of his eldest son Rama. Each tries to outdo the other in complimentary speeches. ”

“ This raja was driven from Simraun by Tughlak Shah of Delhi, but seems to have found little difficulty in the conquest of Nepal. There were only four rajas of this Ayodhya dynasty, and then the throne was occupied by Jayabhadra-Malla, a descendant of Abhaya-Malla, one of the Rajput dynasty, who reigned in the 13th century. There were eight rajas of this dynasty. The seventh, Jayastithi-Malla, who reigned for forty-three years (1386–1429) , appears to have done much in forming codes of laws, and introducing caste and its rules among the Newars. ”

“ But if he humbles himself to the immortal gods, they may possibly forgive him and Vishnu may send his divine river the Ganges from heaven to earth. If this should happen, King Sagar will have more than enough water with which to honour the ashes of his sixty thousand sons." Heavy at heart, Prince Anshumat continued his journey to Ayodhya. When he reached his grandfather's capital, he told King Sagar all that had happened and then led away the sacrificial horse to the royal stable. The news of the death of his sons broke King Sagar's heart. He died and Anshumat became king in his place. ”

“ It is for this that those lords of men, kings, govern,—viz., that others may not thwart their purposes. O Sumantra, do thou act so, that the mighty monarch may not come across any thing unpleasant, or be attacked with chagrin through grief. Do thou saluting him for me say these words unto the aged monarch, who has his senses under complete control, and who hath never seen misfortune before. 'Neither I nor Lakshmana grieve for being ejected out of Ayodhyā, or that we shall have to abide in the forest. After these fourteen years have gone by, you will see Lakshmana, Sitā. ”

“ O best of men, even this morality has ever been established with reference to us, viz., that the eldest son of the king existing, a younger one cannot be the king. Do thou, therefore, O Rāghava go along with me to the prosperous Ayodhyā; and get thyself installed there for the behoof of our race. Although a king observing interest and virtue, and who towers above average humanity, hath been called a mortal, yet to me he is a very deity. While I was in Kekaya and thou wast in the forest, that intelligent monarch honored of the good, given to celebrating sacrifices, ascended heaven. ”

“ From Agra’s lovelier court, thy favored home, the courier speeds to drown thy happiness in gloom. She is no more who owned thy heart. Thy sweetest [Pg 15] Empress, Mumtaza Mahal, the Orient’s loveliness and grace, succumbed to throes which mothers know. The babe survived her. Delhi mourns. Shah Jahán hurries to his seat of woe. How dismal looks the city of imperial gardens! How sepulchral its palace of grandeurs nowhere seen, never heard of, vast and noble, too grand for man, not unfit for gods!—Death darkens the world, darkens Shah Jahán’s glorious throne-hall. ”

“ Later on he drove along the sinuous road on the top of the ridge, and as he looked over Delhi, hidden amongst its foliage, he saw the great white dome of the Jumma Musjid rising above the tree-tops, like a balloon. "The Mosque," he said, standing up in his carriage. "To-morrow we will worship there."
Before noon the next day he mounted the steep broad flight of steps and passed under the red sandstone arch into the vast enclosure. He performed his ablutions at the fountain, and, kneeling upon the marble tiles, waited for the priest to ascend the ladder on to the wooden platform. ”

“ But the principal interest here is a mosque constructed from the remains of twenty-seven Hindu temples by the first Mohammedan King of Delhi in 1193. The Hindu columns that have been used by their successors to form a thick row of cloisters are most admirably and quaintly carved. Gods and mythological figures form the chief feature; but in one corner we see a bullock-cart, where the tire and spokes of the wheel are very distinct; in another some men pounding millet; while monkeys form the brackets, or the head of a bull the ornamentation for a capital. ”

“ A prince in whose reign and under whose direct superintendence was fostered the style of architecture which produced that little Mouti Masjid (Pearl Mosque) which we saw a moment ago—not to speak of the Jammah Masjid of Delhi which we saw there, or of the Taj which we are now going to see—must have been a spacious-souled man, with frank and pure elevations of temper within him, like that exquisite white marble superstructure of the Mouti Masjid which rises from a terrace of rose, as if the glow of crude passion had thus lifted itself into the pure white of tried virtue. ”

“ Not content with the Taj, Emperor Shah Jehan endowed his capital with other monuments of great artistic and architectural beauty. The Pearl Mosque (Moli-Musjid) is the purest and loveliest house of prayer in the world. Like all other structures erected by this emperor, white marble is the only material used; but in this instance the panels are studded with most costly gems. Another mosque, built by him in Delhi (Jama-Musjid) was commenced in the fourth year of his reign and finished in the tenth.
The palace at Delhi—now the fort—covers a vast parallelogram, 1600ft. ”

“ At Ajmere, a really beautiful treasure of architecture is a magnificent carved screen of sandstone arches and five rows of columns behind them, the remains of an otherwise ruined mosque {305} called the Arhai-din-ka-jompra built from the materials of a former Jain temple about the end of the eleventh century. A lake which was made about the same date as the Arhai-din-ka-jompra has an embankment used as a public promenade on which there are white marble pavilions. ”

“ The mosques are all of magnificent appearance, but the most stately and ornate is the huge snow-white marble edifice built by Shah Jahan, with its towering minarets and beautiful sculpture. Again, if we go outside the city walls through any of 300 the seven gates, we come upon the remains of the great buildings of other days. The present-day Delhi is modern to a degree, and when we gaze upon the ruins of gigantic buildings, of mosques and temples, we have an idea of the Delhi of centuries ago. ”

“ Shah Jehan in his grief swore that she should have the loveliest tomb the world ever beheld, and for seventeen years he built the Taj Mahal. Also he built the palace of Agra, the fort and palace of Delhi, and the great mosque of Agra; he took to wife many fair ladies, and lived in all luxuriousness, ministering abundantly to every sense, till he had reigned thirty years. Then his son Aurungzebe rose up and dethroned him, and kept him a close prisoner in his own private mosque, which he had built within the palace of Agra. ”

“ A huge yellow monster sits propped against the wall, the thankoffering of a paralytic cured by bathing in the Ganges. Numberless Hindu temples, known always by the tower of crenelated smaller towers tapering to the largest and crowning one, are seen behind and in between the palaces. They are found in every part and corner of the sacred city. Above all is always seen the landmark formed by the slender minars of the Great Mosque. ”

“ September 23.—The next day I started with D——, of my regiment, to view the Jama Masjid, or Great Mosque. Nothing can exceed the rich, though chaste, beauty of this glorious structure. The building stands in a large walled enclosure, high broad steps leading up to the mosque, with its three domes of pure white marble and floor of the same material, all inlaid with figures. We ascended one of the minarets, about 120 feet high, obtaining a grand view of the imperial city and the surrounding country. To the south extended the ruins of Ferozebad, or ancient Delhi; to the east lay the River Jumna ”

“ One is called the Moti Musjid, or Pearl Mosque, and travellers say that it is exquisite. It is all of marble and has three beautiful domes like immense bubbles floating in the air.
The gem of Agra, though, is the Taj Mahal, a big tomb built centuries ago by one of the rulers, Shah Jehan, for his wife, whom he dearly loved. Just think, this building is standing now, after all these hundreds of years, and is still perfect! It has a beautiful big dome and a number of little ones, besides minarets and towers, and it looks like a marvellous dream building or a palace made by the fairies. ”