Aranya Kanda, Sarga 59

Meaning

Seeing Lakṣmaṇa distressed and cheerless and arrived without Sītā (a princess of the Videha territory), Śrī Rāma, son of Daśaratha, whose mind was set on virtue, anxiously questioned him as follows : (1)

Meaning

“Where is that Sītā (a princess of the Videha kingdom) who actually followed me as I set out towards the Daṇḍaka forest, and leaving whom you have come hither? (2)

Meaning

“Where is that Sītā (a princess of the Videha kingdom) of graceful limbs who shared my sufferings as I knocked about in the Daṇḍaka forest, deprived of my sovereignty and dispirited? (3)

Meaning

“Where is that Sītā, my life’s companion, who resembled a daughter of the gods and without whom, O heroic Lakṣmaṇa, I cannot live even for a while? (4)

Meaning

“Bereft of that daughter of Jahaka, who possessed the lustre of gold, I do not really seek even the lordship of gods, much less the sovereignty of the earth, O Lakṣmaṇa ! (5)

Meaning

“Is Sītā (a princess of the Videha territory), who is dearer to me than life, still living? I hope my exile to the forest for a period of fourteen years will not be rendered void by my death due to separation from Sītā before the expirity of this period. I am sure Kaikeyī will have her desire fulfilled and feel gratified when I, O Lakṣmaṇa, son of Sumitrā, am dead because of my separation from Sītā and you return to Ayodhyā alone. (6-7)

Meaning

“Will my mother, the wretched Kausalyā with her son (myself) dead, wait with reverence on Kaikeyī, who is with her son by her side and also enjoying sovereignty, and has her object accomplished? (8)

Meaning

“If Sītā (a princess of the Videha kingdom) is alive, I shall enter my hermitage once more. If, however, that lady of excellent conduct is dead and gone, I shall yield up my life, O Lakṣmaṇa ! (9)

Meaning

“If Sītā, a princess of the Videha territory, does not speak to me with her smiling face before me, when I reach the hermitage, I shall perish. (10)

Meaning

“Speak, O Lakṣmaṇa, if Sītā (a princess of the Videha kingdom) is still alive. And if not, has the poor lady been, on the other hand, devoured by ogres since you failed in your duty of protecting her? (11)

Meaning

“Tender and youthful, and having never experienced agony, Sītā (a princess of the Videha territory) is evidently feeling disconsolate and grieving due to separation from me. (12)

Meaning

“Fear was in all probability incited even in you by that crooked and most evil-minded ogre, crying out ‘Lakṣmaṇa !’ (13)

Meaning

“That cry for help, uttered in a voice resembling mine, was I believe heard by Sītā (a princess of the Videha kingdom) too. And sent by her, alarmed as she was, you came away with all speed to see me. (14)

Meaning

“But an error, which was grievous in every respect, has been committed by you, leaving Sītā alone in the forest, inasmuch as an opportunity has been afforded thereby to the cruel ogres to retaliate. (15)

Meaning

“The flesh-eating ogres were feeling aggrieved on account of the destruction of Khara; Sītā must have been slain by those fearful ogres : there is no doubt about it.(16)

Meaning

“Alas, I stand plunged in adversity in everyway, O exterminator of foes ! But what shall I do now to avert this tragedy? I fear such a calamity must be faced.” (17)

Meaning

Thus thinking solely of Sītā of excellent limbs, Śrī Rāma, a scion of Raghu, hastened to his hermitage in Janasthāna with Lakṣmaṇa. (18)

Meaning

Severely reproaching his younger brother, Lakṣmaṇa, who wore a distressed appearance, nay, heaving a deep breath, Śrī Rāma, whose mouth was parched from hunger, fatigue and thirst, grew despondent to perceive the site of his hermitage desolate on reaching it. (19)

Meaning

Directly entering his own hermitage, nay, exploring some of Sītā’s sporting grounds and saying to himself that it was the same place where she used to disport, the aforesaid hero felt disquieted in his own abode, his hair standing on end through agony. (20)