Ayodhya Kanda, Sarga 86

Meaning

Guha, who used to roam about in the woods, now reported to Bharata, who was immeasurably great, the praiseworthy attitude of the high-souled Lakṣmaṇa towards his eldest brother : (1)

Meaning

“I spoke as follows to Lakṣmaṇa, who is endowed with excellences of various kinds such as devotion and obedience to his eldest brother, and was keeping vigil for the safety of his eldest brother and his beloved consort, wielding an excellent bow and arrows : (2)

Meaning

“Here is a cosy bed prepared for you, O dear brother! Be reassured about the safety of Śrī Rāma and Sītā and repose on it with ease, O delight of Raghu’s race ! (3)

Meaning

“All of us, your servants, are used to hardships, while you are deserving of ease. As for Śrī Rāma, we shall keep awake for his safety, O pious-minded prince ! (4)

Meaning

“Surely none on earth is dearer to me than Śrī Rāma. No longer be anxious about the safety of your eldest brother and sister-in-law: I tell you this truth in your presence. (5)

Meaning

“Through his grace I hope to acquire very great renown in this world and to earn religious merit in abundance as well as wealth and enjoyment free from blemish. (6)

Meaning

“As such I shall guard, bow in hand, with all my kinsmen, my beloved friend, Śrī Rāma, reposing with Sītā. (7)

Meaning

“Surely there is nothing unknown in this forest to me, who constantly roam about in it. In fact, we can withstand here even an army consisting of all the four limbs on the field of battle. (8)

Meaning

“Spoken to by us as aforesaid, the high-souled Lakṣmaṇa, who kept righteousness alone in view, politely replied to us all in the following words : (9)

Meaning

“ ‘How can sleep be had, or even life or comforts be enjoyed by me when Śrī Rāma, son of Daśaratha, is reposing on the ground with Sītā? (10)

Meaning

“ ‘Behold, O Guha, stretched on blades of grass with Sītā, he who cannot be withstood on the field of battle by all the gods and demons gathered together ! (11)

Meaning

“ ‘This peerless son of Daśaratha, possessing characteristics like unto his own, was secured by virtue of great austerities and through exertions in the shape of sacrificial undertakings of various kinds. (12)

Meaning

“ ‘He having been exiled, the king will not survive long and Mother Earth will surely be widowed soon enough. (13)

Meaning

“ ‘Nay, having uttered a very loud cry consequent on the emperor’s death, which must already have occurred, the women must have ceased crying because of exertion; and the great noise in the palace must have surely died out by this time. (14)

Meaning

“ ‘I do not expect that mother Kausalyā and the king and, even so, my own mother, Sumitrā—all these will survive till this night. (15)

Meaning

“ ‘Even if my mother survives in expectation of the return of Śatrughna, the afflicted Kausalyā, who has given birth to a hero like Śrī Rāma, will surely die. (16)

Meaning

“ ‘Failing to install Śrī Rāma on the throne of Ayodhyā and thus without realizing his long cherished ambition, my father will expire exclaiming “Everything is past and gone !’’ (17)

Meaning

“ ‘Accomplished of purpose indeed are they who will, when the time comes for it, consecrate my father, the deceased emperor, in the course of all the funeral rites. (18)

Meaning

“ ‘And happy are they who will, in the event of my father’s survival, move about in the capital of my father, the cross-roads of which are located in beautiful spots, whose main roads are clearly defined, which is richly endowed with mansions as well as with temples and palaces and adorned with all sorts of precious things, which is crowded with elephants, horses and chariots and made resonant by the sound of clarionets, which is full of all blessings and peopled by joyous and well-fed men and women, and which is rich in gardens and pleasances and looks charming with a series of festivals. (19—21)

Meaning

“ ‘When this term of exile is actually over, shall we Sītā and myself happily return to Ayodhyā alongwith Śrī Rāma, who shall have safely redeemed his word?’ (22)

Meaning

“Even while that high-souled prince, Lakṣmaṇa, who remained sitting all the while, was lamenting as aforesaid, that night actually slipped away. (23)

Meaning

“Next morning, when a cloudless sun appeared in the sky, both the brothers alongwith Sītā were safely ferried by me across the stream after helping them in entangling their locks into a mass of hair as ascetics do, on this very bank of the Gaṅgā. (24)

Meaning

“Wearing matted locks and attired in the bark of trees, nay, wielding an excellent quiver and bow each and looking all round to scan the beauty of the landscape, the two princes, who were possessed of extraordinary strength and looked like a pair of lordly elephants, and were capable of tormenting their enemy, departed with Sītā.” (25)