Poetic afflatus

Kumbhakarna, the gargantuan younger brother of the ten-headed rakshasa king Ravana, is one of the most memorable (and tragicomic) characters from the epic poem Ramayana. Because of a strange course of events, which you are probably familiar with, he was doomed to sleep for months at a stretch and wake up for a short period mainly to feed himself before going back to his sleeping quarters. A lot has been written over the ages about the pains that Ravana and his associates had to take in order to wake Kumbhakarna up before time, when his participation in the battle with Ramachandra became imperative. But there is one significant aspect of this gluttonous hypersomniac's unconventional lifestyle that no one would have got wind of, had the poet-anthologist Lakshmana Bhatta Ankolakara not aired it in the following pair of verses.

(1) Devanagari script:

रे रे लोकाः कुरुध्वं श्रवणपुटपिधानं द्रुतं हस्तयुग्मैः
शैलाः सर्वेऽपि यूयं भवत गुरुतराः सावधाना धरित्र्याम्|
शीघ्रं रे रावण त्वं विरचय वसनैर्नासिकानां पिधानं
सुप्तोऽयं कुम्भकर्णः कटुरवविकटं शर्धते दीर्घमुच्चैः||

Harvard-Kyoto transliteration:

 re re lokAH kurudhvaM zravaNapuTapidhAnaM drutaM hastayugmaiH
zailAH sarve(a)pi yUyaM bhavata gurutarAH sAvadhAnA dharitryAm|

zIghraM re rAvaNa tvaM viracaya vasanairnAsikAnAM pidhAnaM
supto(a)yaM kumbhakarNaH kaTuravavikaTaM zardhate dIrghamuccaiH||

Loose translation: O people! Hurry up and cover your ears with your hands! O mountains! Be extremely careful (as you support yourselves) on the earth! O Ravana! Quickly cover all your (ten) noses with pieces of cloth! For this Kumbhakarna in his sleep is releasing a long, loud, and harsh-sounding draft of flatus.

Notes: The first three quarters of the couplet speak to the loudness, force, and odor of the subject's flatulence; the second quarter, where a warning is being issued to mountains about the possibility of being blown away, could also (perhaps) be rendered "O mountains!  Beware and make yourselves heavier (or press down more firmly) upon the earth!"; I have translated कटुरवविकटं merely as "harsh-sounding" ("hideous on account of its annoying sound"), but it could also mean "pungent and harsh-sounding" (कटु+रवविकटं) in this context.

(2) Devanagari script:

गताः केचित् प्रबोधाय स्वपन्तं कुम्भकर्णकम्|
तदधःपवनोत्सर्गादुड्डीय पतिताः क्वचित्||

Harvard-Kyoto transliteration:

 gatAH kecit prabodhAya svapantaM kumbhakarNakam| 

tadadhaHpavanotsargAduDDIya patitAH kvacit||

Loose translation: Some people went to awaken the sleeping Kumbhakarna but, when he broke wind, flew away and fell down somewhere (else).

Source: 17th century Padyaracana Chapter 13 Verses 4 and 5; Subhashita Ratna Bhandagara, Chapter on comedy, Verses 56 and 11.

Notes: In my opinion, the language is a bit clumsy. Subhashita Ratna Bhandagara replaces स्वपन्तं with स्वयं तं; the latter expression in this context would indicate that these hapless minions of Ravana volunteered for this dangerous task.

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Final notes: Lakshmana Bhatta does not appear to be a highly talented poet (feel free to disagree), but that does not mean we should not cherish his legacy: He is one of the few people who have left behind definitive proof that some of our 17th century ancestors (whom we tend to associate with a grand literary tradition) enjoyed toilet humor as much as the kindergarteners of today! 

Incidentally, the 17th century English poet John Suckling also did not shy away from referring to gross bodily functions in his famously witty literary creations:

Love is the fart 

Of every heart; 
It pains a man when 't is kept close, 
And others doth offend when 't is let loose.

For further snippets of crass humor gleaned from English literature, visit this blog (not mine) and, for educational videos on flatulence, watch this playlist that I have compiled.