Sacred Concord

Ramayana 6.15

Ramayana · translated by Ralph T.H. Griffith

He ceased: Sugriva on the coast By trees o'ershadowed stayed the host, That seemed in glittering lines to be The bright waves of a second sea. Then from the shore the captains gazed On billows which the breezes raised To fury, as they dashed in foam O'er Varun's realm, the Asurs' home:(909) The sea that laughed with foam, and danced With waves whereon the sunbeams glanced: Where, when the light began to fade, Huge crocodiles and monsters played; And, when the moon went up the sky, The troubled billows rose on high From the wild watery world whereon A thousand moons reflected shone: Where awful serpents swam and showed Their fiery crests which flashed and glowed, Illumining the depths of hell, The prison where the demons dwell. The eye, bewildered, sought in vain The bounding line of sky and main: Alike in shade, alike in glow Were sky above and sea below. There wave-like clouds by clouds were chased, Here cloud-like billows roared and raced: Then shone the stars, and many a gem That lit the waters answered them. They saw the great-souled Ocean stirred To frenzy by the winds, and heard, Loud as ten thousand drums, the roar Of wild waves dashing on the shore. They saw him mounting to defy With deafening voice the troubled sky. And the deep bed beneath him swell In fury as the billows fell.
Ramayana 6.15 · Ramayana · 6

Themes in this passage

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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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