Chapter 27 - Sarana continues his Deposition

“I shall describe these valiant leaders that you are able to see, who are devoted to Raghava, full of prowess and who count their lives as nought. That one, the hairs adhering to whose enormous tail are coppery, yellow, black, white and hideously matted and that stand on end, a tail that brilliant as the sun’s rays brushes the earth as he advances, is the Monkey Hara. He is followed by hundreds and thousands of monkeys brandishing trees, awaiting the moment to attack Lanka; they are the leaders of the Monkey King and in the service of the Simian government.

“Those warriors, whom you perceivest in such incalculable numbers, that are no more able to be counted than the sands on the limitless shores of the sea and who cover the mountains, plains and rivers, ranged like sombre clouds, black as collyrium, extremely ferocious and valiant fighters, are the bears; observe how they are advancing to confront you, O King. In their midst, surrounded on every side by them, like Parjanya by storm clouds, is their sovereign of dreadful glance and fearful aspect; he inhabits Rikshavat, a very high mountain and goes to slake his thirst at the Narmada River; he is the lord of all the bears and his name is Dhumra! He has a brother, younger than he, who resembles him in stature but who far surpasses him in valour; behold him, Jambavan, like unto a mountain! Of controlled senses, he is full of reverence for his spiritual superiors and implacable in combat. His intelligence greatly assisted Shakra in the war between the Gods and the titans and he was the recipient of many boons. These giants hurl down great rocks as large as clouds from the mountain heights, which they have scaled, nor do they tremble in the face of death. Shaggy, resembling Rakshasas or Pisacas, those warriors of surpassing energy roam about in great numbers. And that commander on whom the eyes of the monkeys are fixed, who now leaps up in fury and then stands motionless, that foremost of monkeys, O King, dwells on the Sahasraksha Mountain, and the name of that exceedingly valiant leader is Rambha.

“He who, walking on all fours touches the mountain a league away with his flanks, whose chest is a league in height, who is not surpassed by any quadruped in beauty is the renowned Samnadana, the Grandsire of the Monkeys. Extremely skilful, he formerly entered into combat with Shakra on the battlefield, who was unable to defeat him, such is that superior leader.

“Another whose valour equals Indra’s on the battlefield was born of a youthful Gandharva maiden and Krishnavartman. In the struggle between the Devas and Asuras he brought help to the Celestials. That illustrious one sits beneath the Jambhu tree on that mountain, the King of Peaks, frequented by Kinneras, which constantly affords delight to your brother, O Lord of the Titans. It is near there that that fortunate one, that powerful Lord of the Monkeys, General Krathana, whose prowess is not confined to words and who ever eschews defeat, sports. He is standing surrounded by thousands of monkeys; he also undertakes to crush Lanka!

“The one who usually roams by the Ganges, sowing terror among the elephants, remembering, as he does, the old quarrel between elephants and monkeys, that leader with a voice of thunder, who dwells in the mountain caves, subduing the tuskers in the woods and uprooting the trees, that Prince of Monkeys, like unto Indra himself, passes his life happily at the head of a host of monkeys by the river that issues from the Himalayas or Ushirabija, otherwise Mandara, the highest of mountains. Hundreds and thousands and millions of monkeys, proud of their strength and agility, full of prowess and fire, roaring loudly, follow that indomitable warrior, their leader, named Pramathin. It is he, resembling a great cloud propelled by the wind, whom you have pointed out, surrounded by a furious band of intrepid monkeys who stir up a cloud of yellow-coloured dust which the wind carries in all directions. Those formidable and powerful black-snouted Golangulas, numbering a hundred times a hundred thousand, who, having assisted in the construction of the causeway, have gathered growling round the General of the Golangulas, named Gavaksha, threaten to demolish Lanka themselves. There where, frequented by bees, the trees yield fruit in every season, on that mountain encircled by the sun, the brightness of which it equals, the radiance of which shed on beast and bird, lends them the same brilliance, whose plateaus are never forsaken by the magnanimous and great Rishis, whose trees are laden with fruit possessed of every desirable savour, where exceedingly rare honey abounds; on that golden and ravishing mountain, the General Kesharin lives amidst those delights, O King.

“There are sixty thousand wonderful golden mountains in the midst of which Savarnimeru stands out, as you amongst the titans, O King! It is on that mountain, that brown, white and copper-coloured monkeys or those yellow as honey dwell, who possess pointed teeth and nails and who resemble lions; they are as indomitable as tigers, the equals of Vaishvanara, with their long coiled tails like unto serpents vomiting poison or like elephants intoxicated with ichor as high as great hills, and they roar like thunder; their eyes are grey and round and when they are on the march they create an appalling uproar; all of them stand looking on Lanka as if they were about to destroy it. In their midst is the powerful leader who ever faces the sun; he is eager to conquer you; his name is renowned in the world, it is Shatabali, O King, and he swears to destroy Lanka with his troops. Courageous, powerful, full of daring, he prides himself on his personal valour. In his devotion to Rama that monkey will not spare his life.

“Gaja, Gavaksha, Gavaya, Nala, Nila, all those monkeys are surrounded by ten kotis of fighters each, as also other leading monkeys impossible to count, so great is their number, agile inhabitants of the Vindhya Range. All, O Great King, are exceedingly powerful, their stature is equal to high hills and all are capable of levelling the earth by uprooting and razing its mountains to the ground.”