ous city held
By one who all his race excelled,
Blest in his gentle reign,
As the whole land aforetime swayed
By Manu, prince of men, obeyed
Her king from main to main.
And heroes kept her, strong and brave,
As lions guard their mountain cave;
Fierce as devouring flame they burned,
And fought till death, but never turned.
Horses had she of noblest breed,
Like Indra's for their form and speed,
From Vahli's hills and Sindhu's sand,
Vanayu and Kamboja's land.
Her noble elephants had strayed
Through Vindhyan and Himalayan shade,
Gigantic in their bulk and height,
Yet gentle in their matchless might.
They rivalled well the world-spread fame
Of the great stock from which they came,
Of Vaman, vast of size,
Of Mahapadma's glorious line,
Thine, Anjan, and, Airavat, thine,
Upholders of the skies.
With those, enrolled in fourfold class,
Who all their mighty kin surpass,
Whom men Matangas name,
And Mrigas spotted black and white,
And Bhadras of unwearied might,
And Mandras hard to tame.
Thus, worthy of the name she bore,
Ayodhya for a league or more
Cast a bright glory round,
Where Dasaratha wise and great
Governed his fair ancestral state,
With every virtue crowned.
Like Indra in the skies he reigned
In that good town whose wall contained
High domes and turrets proud,
With gates and arcs of triumph decked,
And sturdy barriers to protect
Her gay and countless crowd.

CANTO VII

THE MINISTERS

Two sages, holy saints, had he,
His ministers and priests to be:--
Vasishtha, faithful to advise,
And Vamadeva, Scripture-wise.
Eight other lords around him stood,
All skilled to counsel, wise and good:--
Jayanta, Vijay, Dhrishti bold
In fight, affairs of war controlled;
Siddharth and Arthasadhak true
Watched o'er expense and revenue,
And Dharmapal and wise Asok
Of right and law and justice spoke.
With these the sage Sumantra, skilled
To urge the car, high station filled.
All these in knowledge duly trained
Each passion and each sense restrained:--
With modest manners, nobly bred,
Each plan and nod and look they read,
Upon their neighbors' good intent,
Most active and benevolent;
As sits the Vasus round their King,
They sate around him counselling.
They n