--- title: "Sundara Kanda, Sarga 15" canonical: "https://ramayana.com/valmiki-ramayana/sundara-kanda/sarga-15" lang: "en" --- # Sundara Kanda, Sarga 15 > स वीक्षमाणस्तत्रस्थो मार्गमाणश्च मैथिलीम्। > अवेक्षमाणश्च महीं सर्वां तामन्ववैक्षत॥ १॥ Glancing all round while remaining perched on that tree, and surveying the ground below in quest of Sītā, the princess of Mithilā, Hanumān explored the entire Aśoka grove. (1) > संतानकलताभिश्च पादपैरुपशोभिताम्। > दिव्यगन्धरसोपेतां सर्वतः समलंकृताम्॥ २॥ > तां स नन्दनसंकाशां मृगपक्षिभिरावृताम्। > हर्म्यप्रासादसम्बाधां कोकिलाकुलनिःस्वनाम्॥ ३॥ > काञ्चनोत्पलपद्माभिर्वापीभिरुपशोभिताम्। > बह्वासनकुथोपेतां बहुभूमिगृहायुताम्॥ ४॥ > सर्वर्तुकुसुमै रम्यैः फलवद्भिश्च पादपैः। > पुष्पितानामशोकानां श्रिया सूर्योदयप्रभाम्॥ ५॥ > प्रदीप्तामिव तत्रस्थो मारुतिः समुदैक्षत। > निष्पत्रशाखां विहगैः क्रियमाणामिवासकृत्॥ ६॥ > विनिष्पतद्भिः शतशश्चित्रैः पुष्पावतंसकैः। > समूलपुष्परचितैरशोकैः शोकनाशनैः॥ ७॥ > पुष्पभारातिभारैश्च स्पृशद्भिरिव मेदिनीम्। > कर्णिकारैः कुसुमितैः किंशुकैश्च सुपुष्पितैः॥ ८॥ > स देशः प्रभया तेषां प्रदीप्त इव सर्वतः। > पुंनागाः सप्तपर्णाश्च चम्पकोद्दालकास्तथा॥ ९॥ > विवृद्धमूला बहवः शोभन्ते स्म सुपुष्पिताः। > शातकुम्भनिभाः केचित् केचिदग्निशिखप्रभाः॥ १०॥ > नीलाञ्जननिभाः केचित् तत्राशोकाः सहस्रशः। > नन्दनं विबुधोद्यानं चित्रं चैत्ररथं यथा॥ ११॥ > अतिवृत्तमिवाचिन्त्यं दिव्यं रम्यश्रियायुतम्। > द्वितीयमिव चाकाशं पुष्पज्योतिर्गणायुतम्॥ १२॥ > पुष्परत्नशतैश्चित्रं पञ्चमं सागरं यथा। > सर्वर्तुपुष्पैर्निचितं पादपैर्मधुगन्धिभिः॥ १३॥ > नानानिनादैरुद्यानं रम्यं मृगगणद्विजैः। > अनेकगन्धप्रवहं पुण्यगन्धं मनोहरम्॥ १४॥ > शैलेन्द्रमिव गन्धाढ्यं द्वितीयं गन्धमादनम्। > अशोकवनिकायां तु तस्यां वानरपुंगवः॥ १५॥ > स ददर्शाविदूरस्थं चैत्यप्रासादमूर्जितम्। > मध्ये स्तम्भसहस्रेण स्थितं कैलासपाण्डुरम्॥ १६॥ > प्रवालकृतसोपानं तप्तकाञ्चनवेदिकम्। > मुष्णन्तमिव चक्षूंषि द्योतमानमिव श्रिया॥ १७॥ > निर्मलं प्रांशुभावत्वादुल्लिखन्तमिवाम्बरम्। > ततो मलिनसंवीतां राक्षसीभिः समावृताम्॥ १८॥ > उपवासकृशां दीनां निःश्वसन्तीं पुनः पुनः। > ददर्श शुक्लपक्षादौ चन्द्ररेखामिवामलाम्॥ १९॥ > मन्दप्रख्यायमानेन रूपेण रुचिरप्रभाम्। > पिनद्धां धूमजालेन शिखामिव विभावसोः॥ २०॥ > पीतेनैकेन संवीतां क्लिष्टेनोत्तमवाससा। > सपङ्कामनलंकारां विपद्मामिव पद्मिनीम्॥ २१॥ > पीडितां दुःखसंतप्तां परिक्षीणां तपस्विनीम्। > ग्रहेणांगारकेणेव पीडितामिव रोहिणीम्॥ २२॥ > अश्रुपूर्णमुखीं दीनां कृशामनशनेन च। > शोकध्यानपरां दीनां नित्यं दुःखपरायणाम्॥ २३॥ > प्रियं जनमपश्यन्तीं पश्यन्तीं राक्षसीगणम्। > स्वगणेन मृगीं हीनां श्वगणेनावृतामिव॥ २४॥ > नीलनागाभया वेण्या जघनं गतयैकया। > नीलया नीरदापाये वनराज्या महीमिव॥ २५॥ Seated there, Hanumān, son of the wind-god, surveyed the Aśoka grove, which was adorned with trees intertwined with Santanaka climbers, and enriched with celestial odours and delicious substances, and had been decorated on all sides, and as such closely resembled the Nandana grove in paradise, which was full of animals and birds and crowded with mansions and palaces and resounded with the notes of cuckoos; which was graced with large oblong wells containing golden water-lilies, and lotuses furnished with numerous seats and carpets and provided with many-storeyed buildings, which was embellished with lovely trees flowering in every season, and laden with fruit and which in virtue of the loveliness of Aśoka trees in blossom scattered the splendour of sunrise and looked inflamed, as it were, and the boughs of whose trees were being repeatedly divested of their leaves, as it were, by birds even as they flew away from them and again perched on them. Adorned with wonderful Aśoka trees, which by virtue of their crest-like flowers falling down in hundreds appeared as though made of flowers from their very roots and dispelled all grief—as well as with Karṇikāra trees in blossom, which, bending as they did under the heavy weight of their clusters of flowers, seemed to touch the ground, and with Kiṁśuka trees in full blossom, that region was ablaze, as it were, on all sides with their brilliance. Numerous Punnaga and Saptaparṇa trees as also Campakas and Uddālakas in full blossom, whose roots had assumed great dimensions, were spreading their charm in that grove. Aśoka trees stood there in thousands, some of which shone brightly as gold, others were resplendent as flames of fire, while still others were dark as collyrium. The Aśoka garden was delightful as the Nandana, the garden of gods, and lovely as the Caitraratha grove of Kubera, nay, far superior to the two aforesaid groves, as it were, and was inconceivable, wonderful and invested with a charming splendour. Spangled with hosts of luminaries in the form of flowers, it was a second firmament, as it were, and enchanting like a fifth ocean (besides the four oceans bounding the earth according to the ancient geography) with hundreds of precious stones in the form of its flowers. Hanumān also beheld a garden forming part of the Aśoka grove, full of trees blooming in every season and diffusing a sweet fragrance, nay, delightful on account of its herds of animals and birds—which emitted cries of various kinds—which scattered many odours and ravished the mind with its holy scents and which was like another Gandhamādana, the lord of mountains, rich in odours. In the aforesaid Aśoka grove that bull among monkeys saw situated at a short distance a lofty temple, which was supported in the centre on a thousand pillars and was free from impurities and white as Mount Kailāśa, which shone brightly due to its splendour and blinded the eyes, as it were, and appeared by virtue of its eminence to scrape the heavens, and which was provided with steps made of coral and platforms of refined gold. Then he caught sight of a woman who was surrounded by ogresses, was emaciated through fasting and looked miserable, who was sighing again and again and was immaculate like the disc of the moon at the beginning of a bright fortnight, who was casting a delightful splendour with her form which could only be indistinctly recognized, who, being clad in a soiled raiment, looked like a flame enveloped in smoke, who was clad in a single yellow worn-out excellent cloth and, being smeared with dust and divested of all decoration, looked like a muddy lotus-pond devoid of lotuses; who, being oppressed, tormented with agony, wasted and reduced to a pitiable condition, looked like the constellation Rohiṇī pressed by the planet, Mars, who wore a wretched appearance, her face bathed in tears, and was worn out through abstinence from food, was given over to grief and anxiety, felt exhausted and was ever plunged in sorrow; who, being unable to see her beloved ones and able to behold ogresses alone, appeared like a she-doe disunited from her herd and surrounded by a pack of hounds and who, with a single braid looking like a black serpent and reaching up to her hinder part, looked like the earth with a dark-green row of trees at the end of the monsoon when the clouds have disappeared. (2—25) > सुखार्हां दुःखसंतप्तां व्यसनानामकोविदाम्। > तां विलोक्य विशालाक्षीमधिकं मलिनां कृशाम्॥ २६॥ > तर्कयामास सीतेति कारणैरुपपादिभिः। > ह्रियमाणा तदा तेन रक्षसा कामरूपिणा॥ २७॥ > यथारूपा हि दृष्टा सा तथारूपेयमंगना। > पूर्णचन्द्राननां सुभ्रूं चारुवृत्तपयोधराम्॥ २८॥ > कुर्वतीं प्रभया देवीं सर्वा वितिमिरा दिशः। > तां नीलकण्ठीं बिम्बोष्ठीं सुमध्यां सुप्रतिष्ठिताम्॥ २९॥ > सीतां पद्मपलाशाक्षीं मन्मथस्य रतिं यथा। > इष्टां सर्वस्य जगतः पूर्णचन्द्रप्रभामिव॥ ३०॥ > भूमौ सुतनुमासीनां नियतामिव तापसीम्। > निःश्वासबहुलां भीरुं भुजगेन्द्रवधूमिव॥ ३१॥ > शोकजालेन महता विततेन न राजतीम्। > संसक्तां धूमजालेन शिखामिव विभावसोः॥ ३२॥ > तां स्मृतीमिव संदिग्धामृद्धिं निपतितामिव। > विहतामिव च श्रद्धामाशां प्रतिहतामिव॥ ३३॥ > सोपसर्गां यथा सिद्धिं बुद्धिं सकलुषामिव। > अभूतेनापवादेन कीर्तिं निपतितामिव॥ ३४॥ > रामोपरोधव्यथितां रक्षोगणनिपीडिताम्। > अबलां मृगशावाक्षीं वीक्षमाणां ततस्ततः॥ ३५॥ > बाष्पाम्बुपरिपूर्णेन कृष्णवक्राक्षिपक्ष्मणा। > वदनेनाप्रसन्नेन निःश्वसन्तीं पुनः पुनः॥ ३६॥ > मलपङ्कधरां दीनां मण्डनार्हाममण्डिताम्। > प्रभां नक्षत्रराजस्य कालमेघैरिवावृताम्॥ ३७॥ > तस्य संदिदिहे बुद्धिस्तथा सीतां निरीक्ष्य च। > आम्नायानामयोगेन विद्यां प्रशिथिलामिव॥ ३८॥ Beholding that large-eyed woman, who looked very untidy and emaciated, who had never known calamities before and who, though deserving of comforts, was stricken with sorrow, Hanumān guessed her to be Sītā on convincing grounds. He said to himself: ‘This lady is precisely endowed with the same form in which that woman was seen by us being borne away over Mount Ṛṣyamūka the other day by that ogre, able to change his form at will.’ Gazing on that godlike lady, Sītā, of comely form, whose countenance resembled the full moon, who had shapely eyebrows and graceful rounded breasts and who was dispelling the darkness of all the four quarters by her radiance; whose neck presented a bluish appearance due to her wearing ornaments of sapphire which cast a bluish splendour about them, whose lips were ruddy like the ripe Bimba fruit, who had a slender waist and well-disposed limbs; whose eyes resembled the petals of a lotus, who compared with Rati, the consort of Love, was beloved of the whole world even as the light of a full moon; who was seated on the bare ground like an ascetic woman leading an austere life and who, though timid by nature, was hissing frequently like the consort of the lord of serpents; who being enmeshed in a mighty and extensive cobweb of grief, ceased to shine like a flame intertwined with smoke; who resembled a Smṛti text of doubtful meaning, a treasure that has been cast away, faith that has been shattered, a hope which has been frustrated, perfection impeded by obstacles, understanding clouded by passion or reputation marred by false scandal; who was tormented by obstruction, caused in the service of Śrī Rāma and oppressed by the presence of ogres, whose eyes resembled those of a fawn and who was looking all round in her helplessness; who with her cheerless countenance bathed in tears and with her eyes distinguished by dark and oblique lashes was sighing again and again, who had put on a thick coat of dirt on her person due to want of toilet and bath, felt distressed and was undecorated though deserving of every decoration and looked like the radiance of the moon, the king of stars, obscured by dark clouds and who had grown very thin like knowledge obscured for want of uninterrupted study, the mind of Hanumān got puzzled. (26—38) > दुःखेन बुबुधे सीतां हनुमाननलंकृताम्। > संस्कारेण यथा हीनां वाचमर्थान्तरं गताम्॥ ३९॥ With difficulty did Hanumān recognize Sītā, who was unadorned, even as one is able to decipher with difficulty a text which being devoid of purity of expression has undergone a change of meaning. (39) > तां समीक्ष्य विशालाक्षीं राजपुत्रीमनिन्दिताम्। > तर्कयामास सीतेति कारणैरुपपादयन्॥ ४०॥ Observing that large-eyed and irreproachable princess, Hanumān concluded her to be Sītā, establishing her identity on the following grounds : (40) > वैदेह्या यानि चांगेषु तदा रामोऽन्वकीर्तयत्। > तान्याभरणजालानि गात्रशोभीन्यलक्षयत्॥ ४१॥ He perceived the same ornaments casting their charm on her limbs as Śrī Rāma had mentioned at the time of his (Hanumān’s) leaving Kiṣkindhā as existing on the person of Sītā, a princess of the Videha territory. (41) > सुकृतौ कर्णवेष्टौ च श्वदंष्ट्रौ च सुसंस्थितौ। > मणिविद्रुमचित्राणि हस्तेष्वाभरणानि च॥ ४२॥ He said to himself: ‘I find on her person a pair of skillfully shaped earrings and also a pair of well-fitting Swadaṁstras (another ornament for the ears), as well as ornaments on the limbs of her hands, set with gems and coral. (42) > श्यामानि चिरयुक्तत्वात् तथा संस्थानवन्ति च। > तान्येवैतानि मन्येऽहं यानि रामोऽन्वकीर्तयत्॥ ४३॥ ‘Though darkened due to their not having been brushed for a long time and also due to their contact with her untidy person, they are of the same shape. I, therefore, believe them to be the same of which Śrī Rāma spoke at the time. (43) > तत्र यान्यवहीनानि तान्यहं नोपलक्षये। > यान्यस्या नावहीनानि तानीमानि न संशयः॥ ४४॥ ‘I don’t find on her person those which she had dropped on the Ṛṣyamūka mountain. No doubt the existing ornaments are the same which did not drop from her person. (44) > पीतं कनकपट्टाभं स्रस्तं तद्वसनं शुभम्। > उत्तरीयं नगासक्तं तदा दृष्टं प्लवंगमैः॥ ४५॥ > भूषणानि च मुख्यानि दृष्टानि धरणीतले। > अनयैवापविद्धानि स्वनवन्ति महान्ति च॥ ४६॥ ‘That shining yellow upper garment, which looked like a sheet of gold (due to its texture of gold) and which, when dropped, was seen by the monkeys caught in a tree at that time, as also the principal ornaments found lying on the earth’s surface, which were valuable and made a tinkling sound, were dropped by her alone. (45-46) > इदं चिरगृहीतत्वाद् वसनं क्लिष्टवत्तरम्। > तथाप्यनूनं तद्वर्णं तथा श्रीमद्यथेतरत्॥ ४७॥ ‘Although the existing garment on her person is exceedingly worn, having been used by her for a long time, its colour is yet unfaded and the piece is as bright as the other one. (47) > इयं कनकवर्णांगी रामस्य महिषी प्रिया। > प्रणष्टापि सती यस्य मनसो न प्रणश्यति॥ ४८॥ ‘She is no other than the beloved and virtuous spouse of Śrī Rāma with golden limbs, who though out of his sight has not disappeared from his mind. (48) > इयं सा यत्कृते रामश्चतुर्भिरिह तप्यते। > कारुण्येनानृशंस्येन शोकेन मदनेन च॥ ४९॥ > स्त्री प्रणष्टेति कारुण्यादाश्रितेत्यानृशंस्यतः। > पत्नी नष्टेति शोकेन प्रियेति मदनेन च॥ ५०॥ ‘Here is the one for whom Śrī Rāma is suffering torment through the following four, viz., pity, tenderness, grief and love—through pity for a helpless woman deserving protection having disappeared; through tenderness for one who was dependent on him, through grief at the thought of his own spouse having been lost and through love for one who was beloved of him. (49-50) > अस्या देव्या यथारूपमंगप्रत्यंगसौष्ठवम्। > रामस्य च यथारूपं तस्येयमसितेक्षणा॥ ५१॥ ‘The comeliness of Śrī Rāma and the elegance of each of his major and minor limbs are analogous to those of this godlike lady and the comeliness of this lady is similar to that of Śrī Rāma; hence this dark-eyed woman must be his consort. (51) > अस्या देव्या मनस्तस्मिंस्तस्य चास्यां प्रतिष्ठितम्। > तेनेयं स च धर्मात्मा मुहूर्तमपि जीवति॥ ५२॥ ‘The mind of this godlike lady is set on him, while his mind is set on her. For this reason alone does she, as also that pious-minded soul, survive even for a short while. (52) > दुष्करं कृतवान् रामो हीनो यदनया प्रभुः। > धारयत्यात्मनो देहं न शोकेनावसीदति॥ ५३॥ ‘Lord Śrī Rāma has done what was hard to accomplish for him in that he has been able to preserve his life even though disunited from her and does not perish through grief.’ (53) > एवं सीतां तथा दृष्ट्वा हृष्टः पवनसम्भवः। > जगाम मनसा रामं प्रशशंस च तं प्रभुम्॥ ५४॥ Delighted in this way to behold Sītā as mentioned above, Hanumān, sprung from the loins of the wind-god, sought the presence of Śrī Rāma with his mind and admired the aforesaid lord. (54) Book: https://ramayana.com/valmiki-ramayana --- Source: Gita Press, Gorakhpur editions. Buy the book: https://gitapress.org/product/sri-ramcharitmanas-special-edition Ramayana.com, a free, ad-free project of Ved Vyas Foundation.