race
Well trained in lore of time and place,
And search the eastern region; through
Groves, woods, and hills thy way pursue.
There seek for Sita, trace the spot
Where Ravan hides, and weary not.
Search for the captive in the caves
Of mountains, and by woods and waves.
To Sarju,(661) Kausiki,(662) repair,
Bhagirath's daughter(663) fresh and fair.
Search mighty Yamun's(664) peak, explore
Swift Yamuna's(665) delightful shore,
Sarasvati(666) and Sindhu's(667) tide,
And rapid Sona's(668) pebbly side.
Then roam afar by Mahi's(669) bed
Where Kalamahi's groves are spread.
Go where the silken tissue shines,
Go to the land of silver mines.(670)
Visit each isle and mountain steep
And city circled by the deep,
And distant villages that high
About the peaks of Mandar lie.
Speed over Yavadwipa's land,(671)
And see Mount Sisir(672) proudly stand
Uplifting to the skies his head
By Gods and Danavs visited.
Search each ravine and mountain pass,
Each tangled thicket deep in grass.
Search every cave with utmost care
If haply Rama's queen be there.
Then pass beyond the sounding sea
Where heavenly beings wander free,
And Sona's(673) waters swift and strong
With ruddy billows foam along.
Search where his shelving banks descend,
Search where the hanging woods extend.
Try if the pathless thickets screen
The robber and the captive queen.
Search where the torrent floods that rend
The mountain to the plains descend:
Search dark abysses where they rave,
Search mountain slope and wood and cave
Then on with rapid feet and gain
The inlands of the fearful main
Where, tortured by the tempest's lash,
Against rude rocks the billows dash:
An ocean like a sable cloud,
Whose margent monstrous serpents crowd:
An ocean rising with a roar
To beat upon an iron shore.
On, onward still! your feet shall tread
Shores of the sea whose waves are red,
Where spreading wide your eyes shall see
The guilt-tormenting cotton tree(674)
And the wild spot where Garud(675) dwells
Which gems adorn and ocean shells,
High as Kailasa, nobly decked,
Wrought by the heavenly architect.(676)
Huge giants named Mandehas(677) there
In each foul shape they love to wear,
Numbing the soul with terror's chill,
Hang from the summit of the hill.
When darts the sun his earliest beam
They plunge them in the ocean stream,
New vigour from his rays obtain,
And hang upon the rocks again.
Speed onward still: your steps shall be
At length beside the Milky Sea
Whose every r