पृष्ठम्:Sanskrit Literature.djvu/१२५

THE RAGHUVANÇA 93 The Raghuvança¹ is true to the type, for the central figure is Rāma, though in accord with the title the poem first sketches the history of the dynasty of the sun-born kings, descendants of the Ikṣvāku` whose name occurs in the Rgveda, and whose family is renowned in the epic and the Purāņas. This wide theme gives the poet full space to exercise his power of descrip- tion; war and the coronation of a king, the choosing of her mate by a young princess at a Svayamvara, the marriage rite, the loss of a darling life and the grief of the bereaved husband, town and country, the seasons, the incidents of a great Digvijaya, the triumphal progress of a king who seeks to conquer the earth, all form occasions for the poet's skill. The poem carries us at once into an atmosphere strange to us; Dilīpa is king but childless; he learns that by chance when returning from a visit to Indra he has failed to show reverence to his sacred cow, who has cursed him; to make amends he determines to follow in worship the movements of her daughter, Nandini, on earth; dutifully he carries out his vow, saves her from a lion by offering his own body in exchange, and Nandini accords him the wish of his heart. Soon the father gazes, with eyes as still as lotus blossoms shielded from the wind, on the lovely face of his son, his heart overflows as the sea at the sight of the moon. The young Raghu waxes fast, is given the rank of Crown Prince and bidden guard the horse that must wander for a year before his father can perform the sacred horse sacrifice; the steed disappears, but with Nandini's aid Raghu's eyes are opened until he can see where in the east Indra has taken the horse. Vainly he strives against the god, but pleased by his valour he accords him every wish save the return of the horse, and the gallant youth demands that his father shall have the full fruit of the sacrifice. The offering performed, Dilīpa gives to his son the white parasol, emblem of sovereignty, and, true to his family's rule, retires to the life of an ascetic in the forest (i-iii). Canto iv recounts the knightly adventures of Raghu as conqueror of India; he advances against the Suhmas, defeats the princes of Bengal, and erects pillars of victory on the islands of the Ganges; neither the elephants nor the arrow hail of Kalinga stay his course, Ma- ¹ Ed. S. P. Pandit, BSS. 1869-74; Nandargikar, Bombay, 1897; trans. Walter, Munich, 1914.