Lowering his eyes as he was leaving, Raama said: "Father, I leave behind my
mother Kausalya, blameless and tender-hearted lady, bereft of her son in her old age. This
sudden fate is bitter to her as death, but she consents to live only for your sake, to
share your sorrow and console you. She is incapable of harbouring an unkind thought
towards any one, and she has never before felt the pang of such poignant parting.
Be kind to her when I am no longer here
and, when I return after my long exile in the hope of putting my head on her feet, let me
not hear that she has died of sorrow." Thus Raama spoke, unable to bear the
thought of his mother's grief. As Raama went out speaking thus, Dasaratha could not endure
the sight and covered his face with his hands. |
