| "When
Raavana seized Seeta and carried her off," Raama said, breaking down with fresh
grief, "she must have cried aloud 'Ha my Lord! Ha Raama! Ha Lakshmana!' But she saw
no one coming. We failed to go to her help. Every time I think of the suffering she then
must have gone through, my grief swells up afresh. What am I to do? Like the limbs of one
who has drunk poison, my whole body burns with pain. She
is held in the grip of the cruel raakshasis and she is in great anguish. Janaka's
daughter, the bride who entered the home of great Dasaratha, she lies on the bare ground,
a prisoner surrounded by raakshasis!"
"Raama!" said Lakshmana, "cease from sorrow. Soon we shall destroy Raavana
and rescue Seeta and take her home to Ayodhya. She will enter the city like the goddess of
chastity. Give up your grief. Arm yourself with courage." |
