Aranya Kanda, Chapter 60
Rama laments at Separation with Sita
While Rama is coming towards hermitage his lower eyelid frequently fluttered, his gait faltered, and he missed his footing.
On closely watching those inauspicious forebodings Rama indeed uttered oftentimes reflexly thus as, 'would she be safe, in fact!'
He quickened himself and went with an ardency to see Sita, and then on seeing an empty home his heart is distraught.
Raghava looked like a flying-flutterer as his speed jostled his arms and gait flutteringly, and on closely probing there and there, and all-over the places of that cottage, then he saw the lustreless house of straw devoid of Sita, alike a befogged wintry lotus-lake without lustre.
The trees of that woodland are seemingly weeping, as their flowers are witheringly weakening and their birds are weepingly warbling, and the animals are whingeingly weeping, and that woodland is charmless and utterly shattered, since its georgic deities have completely abandoned it. Rather utterly bestrewn are the deerskins and sacred grass blades, rather utterly battered are the tender-grass-seats and other mats in the compound of cottage, and he who ardently wanted to see Sita, such a Rama, on seeing such an emptied locale and cottage, wept over, over and again.
"That bashful Sita might be stolen by the grudging demons, or slain by the very same grisly demons, or savoured by some gruesome beasts, or else she strayed in this gauntly forest, and even she might have playfully shrouded herself in the grimly forest, or else she must be sheltering herself in this forest which will be gruelling to locate.
"Or else, she might have again gone to pick the flowers or fruits, or again gone to lotus-lake, or gone to the river for water." Thinking thus, Rama started his search for Sita.
Though he searched effortfully for his dear Sita he did not get her, and as his anguish is reddening his eyes the appearance of that glorious one seems to be that of a madman.
Rama ran speedily from tree to shrub, from hill to hillock, from river to rivulet, and revolving around them he wailed for Sita, as he is inundated in a sludgy ocean of woes.
"Oh, Kadamba tree, seest thou someone a lady who is lover of Kadamba flowers, one with a lovable face and a love of mine, thou tellest me if thou knowest.
"Oh, Bilva tree, if thou seest someone who is drest in yellowy-ochry silks, whose skin likens to the silkiness of thine leaflets, breasts to thine rotund and silky Bilva fruits, thou tellest me...
"Otherwise, thou Arjuna tree, if thou knowest her who is a lover of thine Arjuna flowers and the ladylove of mine, thou telleth whether that slender-waisted daughter of Janaka liveth or otherwise...
"As to how this Kakubha tree shineth laden with creepy-creepers, foliole-foliage and flowery-flowers, this tree knowest Maithili whose thighs can be likened to the smoothish trunk of this very Kakubha tree...
"As to how this best tree among all trees heareth the chorus of honeybees that singest around it, thereby this Tilaka tree clearly knowest Maithili, a lover of Tilaka trees, as this shouldst have heard her.
"Oh, Ashoka tree, an alleviator of agony, that is thine name lingually... but practically and readily name me after thine, by showing my ladylove, as my agony has marred my empathy...
"Oh, Palm tree, if thou seest that lady breasted alike ripened-palm fruits of thine, and if thine mercy is mine, thou telleth of that shapely lady Sita...
"Oh, Rose-apple tree, if thou seest Sita and thee knowest my ladylove with golden glitter, thou telleth me without hesitation...
"Aha! Karnikaara tree, now thou art in full bloom and blooming magnificently, if thou seest that lover of Karnikaara-flowers and an immaculate ladylove of mine, thou telleth me...
Rama has gone on asking trees like mango, niipa, massive saala, jack-fruit, kuruva, dhava, and even around daaDima, bakula, punnaaga, sandalwood, ketaka trees, and when he is running around them that highly glorious Rama appeared like a madman.
"Or else, oh, deer, dost thou know what bechanced to that fawn-eyed Maithili, one with quick-looks like thee deer? Or else, hast she herded herself into the herd of she-deer of yours...
"Oh, elephant, thou mightst beheld her whose thighs likens to your trunk at that problematic hour, thus methinks, and that Maithili is familiar to thee, and oh, best elephant, if thou beholdest her, thou tallest me...
"Fear not, oh, tiger, hast thou seen Maithili, the moonfaced ladylove of mine, if thou hast seen speak in good faith...
"Oh lotus-eyed lady, in fact I have seen you my dear, then why this running away and concealing yourself under trees, why do not you reply me...
"Stay...stay... oh, best lady, don't you have mercy on me? You are not unacceptably tease-humoured! What for you ignore me?
"Oh, beautifully complexioned lady, even if you are running away your yellowy silk-sari betokens you, stay, if you have goodwill for me...
"Otherwise, she whom I have just seen me may not be Sita, why because, it is unapt of her to avoid me who attained this wretched state, hence Sita with cheery smiles is certainly murdered...
"Obviously the raw-flesh gorgers must have gorged that youngish lady on diving all her limbs in my absence from my dear one...
"Her face which is similar to a full-moon with pretty teeth, prettier lips, prettily nose and with prettyish earrings, might have obtained a blanched look when being devoured...
"But that exquisite and beautiful neck of that lady which shines forth in the colour of Campaka flower, befitting for any neck ornament, indeed it might be glutted down while she is bewailing...
"Her two arms which are delicate like tender leaves, ornamented with bangles and bicep-lets might have been definitely nibbled while they are wriggling with quivering fingers...
"This is as though I have forsaken this youngish Sita really as a feast for the demons in my absence, and though Sita has many relatives she has become as worse as a lonesome woman who is completely forsaken by her caravan who is lonesomely ready for the feast of highwaymen, and demons have feasted on her.
"Ha, Lakshmana... oh, dextrous one... have you seen my ladylove anywhere... ha, dear, where have you gone... oh, auspicious lady... ha, Sita..." thus Rama lamented again and again in his search.
On bewailing in this way and on overly rushing from wood to wood, somewhere Rama has become highly delusional by the forcefulness of delusion and spots forest stuff as Sita, though none of them have any resemblance to Sita, and somewhere else, marking creepers, plants or slender shrubs and suchlike delicacies as Sita he has become really alluded by the powerfulness of allusion, and elsewhere, he is not discriminating paths or pathless routes for his trekking as an impassioned one in the search of his ladylove, and thus he is nitid like a madman.
Rama is on the rove around woods, rivers, hills, mountain-rapids and thicketed forests, speedily and restlessly.
On going round the vast of great forest in that way and on searching for Maithili, his hope became intangible, but again he undertook the search for his ladylove, over-strenuously.