Then Bali ceased: his eyeballs rolled In stress of anguish uncontrolled His massive teeth were bared to view, And from the frame the spirit flew. Their lord and leader dead, the crowd Of noblest Vanars shrieked aloud: "Since thou, O King, hast sought the skies All desolate Kishkindha lies. Her woods, where Vanars loved to rove, Are empty now, and hill and grove. From every eye the light is fled, Since thou, our mighty lord, art dead. Thine was the unwearied arm that bore The brunt of deadly fight of yore With Golabh the Gandharva, when, Lasting through five long years and ten, The dreadful conflict knew no stay In gloom of night, in glare of day; And when the fifteenth year had past Thy dire opponent fell at last. If such a foeman fell beneath Our hero's arm and awful teeth Who freed us from our terror, how Is conquering Bali fallen now?"Ramayana 4.135 · Ramayana · 4
Ramayana 4.135
Ramayana · translated by Ralph T.H. Griffith
Themes in this passage
The DivineWarFearLeadershipLonelinessLoveThe SoulStrength
The Divine in other traditions
The same theme, as Christianity, Islam, Buddhism and Hellenism address it.
Nevertheless the LORD thy God would not hearken unto Balaam; but the LORD thy God turned the curse into a blessing unto thee, because the LORD thy God loved thee.Deuteronomy 23:5 · Bible · Deuteronomy
Allah, your Lord and Lord of your forefathers?Quran 37:126 · Quran · The Rangers
Self is the lord of self, who else could be the lord? With self well subdued, a man finds a lord such as few can find.Dhp 12.160 · Dhammapada · Self
Saturnia lends the lash; the coursers fly; Smooth glides the chariot through the liquid sky. Heaven’s gates spontaneous open to the powers, Heaven’s golden gates, kept by the winged Hours. Commission’d in alternate watch they stand, The sun’s bright portals and the skies command; Close, or unfold, the eternal gates of day Bar heaven with clouds, or roll those clouds away. The sounding hinges ring, the clouds divide. Prone down the steep of heaven their course they guide. But Jove, incensed, from Ida’s top survey’d, And thus enjoin’d the many-colour’d maid.Iliad 8.29 · Iliad · 8
See what all six traditions say about the divine →
Search every tradition at once
Ask a question in your own words and see how six traditions answer it.