Sacred Concord

Ramayana 4.226a

Ramayana · translated by Ralph T.H. Griffith

But Hanuman still onward pressed With Tara, Angad, and the rest, Through Vindhya's pathless glens he sped And left no spot unvisited. He gazed from every mountain height, He sought each cavern dark as night, And wandered through the bloomy shade By pool and river and cascade, But, though they sought in every place, Of Sita yet they found no trace. On fruit and woodland berries fed Through many a lonely wild they sped, And reached at last, untouched by fear, A desert terrible and drear: A fruitless waste, a land of gloom Where trees were bare of leaf and bloom, Where every scanty stream was dried, And niggard earth her roots denied. No elephants through all the ground, No buffaloes or deer are found. There roams no tiger, pard, or bear, No creature of the wood is there. No bird displays his glittering wings, No tree, no shrub, no creeper springs. There rise no lilies from the flood, Resplendent with their flower and bud, Where the delighted bees may throng About the fragrance with their song. There lived a hermit Kandu named, For truth and wealth of penance famed. Whom fervent zeal and holy rite Had dowered with all-surpassing might. His little son, a ten year child-- So chanced it--perished in the wild. His death with fury stirred the sage, Who cursed the forest in his rage, Doomed from that hour to shelter none, A waste for bird and beast to shun. They searched by every forest edge, They searched each cave and mountain ledge, And thickets whence the water fell Wandering through the tangled dell. Striving to do Sugriva's will They roamed along each leafy rill. But vain were all endeavours, vain The careful search, the toil and pain. Through one dark grove they scarce could wind, So thick were creepers intertwined. There as they struggled through the wood Before their eyes an Asur(750) stood. High as a towering hill, his pride The very Gods in heaven defied. When on the fiend their glances fell Each braced him for the combat well.
Ramayana 4.226a · Ramayana · 4

Themes in this passage

NatureAngerChildrenDeathThe DivineFearLonelinessPride

Nature in other traditions

The same theme, as Christianity, Islam, Buddhism and Taoism address it.

The earth shall quake before them; the heavens shall tremble: the sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining:
Joel 2:10 · Bible · Joel
Hast thou not seen that unto Allah payeth adoration whosoever is in the heavens and whosoever is in the earth, and the sun, and the moon, and the stars, and the hills, and the trees, and the beasts, and many of mankind, while there are many unto whom the doom is justly due. He whom Allah scorneth, there is none to give him honour. Lo! Allah doeth what He will.
Quran 22:18 · Quran · The Pilgrimage
Cut down the whole forest (of lust), not a tree only! Danger comes out of the forest (of lust). When you have cut down both the forest (of lust) and its undergrowth, then, Bhikshus, you will be rid of the forest and free!
Dhp 20.283 · Dhammapada · The Way
Abstaining from speech marks him who is obeying the spontaneity of his nature. A violent wind does not last for a whole morning; a sudden rain does not last for the whole day. To whom is it that these (two) things are owing? To Heaven and Earth. If Heaven and Earth cannot make such (spasmodic) actings last long, how much less can man!
Tao Te Ching 23.1 · Tao Te Ching

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