Hearing these words of Rama, Sita greatly sorry, with tears in her eyes,
spoke gently unto him the following words. "The evils, thus enumerated
by thee of living in the forest, do thou know, appear as so many good
qualities unto me, who have been made forward by thy affection. Deer,
lions, elephants, tigers, _saravas_,[132] _chamaras_,[133]
_srimaras_,[134] and other animals which have not seen thee before,
seeing thee, Raghava, will stand off, for they all fear thee. I shall
follow thee, taking the permission of the respected ones; without thee,
O Rama, I will renounce my life. If I live by thee, O Raghava, _Sakra_,
the lord of celestials, shall not be able with his mighty power to
defeat me. 'A woman, without her husband, cannot live'; this truth has
been pointed out by thee, O Rama, unto me. Besides, I heard before, thou
of great intelligence, in my paternal house from the Brahmanas that I
should live in the forest. I have heard this from the Brahmanas versed
in palmistry, and I have all along been anxious, O mighty hero, to go to
the forest; shall therefore obtain permission and go, O dearly beloved,
unto the forest with thee; nothing can make it otherwise. I shall secure
permission and follow thee; the time has arrived; may the Brahmanas be
of truthful words! I know, O great hero, that there are many evils
incident to living in the forest; but they generally befall those men
who have not their senses subdued. I heard, when I was a girl, that an
ascetic woman of well-disciplined character, came to my mother and
apprised her of my future abode in the forest. I had requested thee, O
my lord, many times before in this house to take me to the forest with
thee for enjoyment, and thou wast pleased to agree. For thy welfare, O
Raghava, having received thy permission to follow thee, I like to serve
thee, O great hero, while living in the forest.
O thou, pure-hearted one, surely shall I become sinless if I follow my
husband,out of affection; for my husband is my Divinity. I have heard
this pious report from the Brahmanas of great fame that even in after
life thy company is greatly beneficial unto me. She, who has been given
away as wife by her father to one, with due rites of gift peculiar to
each class, touching holy water, shall be his, even in her after life.
For what reason then dost thou not wish to take thy wife with thee who
is of good character and devoted to her husband? Do thou take me, O
Kakuthstha, who am poor in spirit, devoted to my husband, ever given to
thy service, and participating equally in thy joy and sorrow. If thou
dost not purpose to take me with thee, surely will I do away with my
life by drinking poison, entering into fire, or drowning myself in
water." She begged Rama in these and various other means to take her
with him, but that mighty hero did not consent to lead her into the
lonely forest. Being accosted thus, Maithili was wrapt up in thought and
bathed her breast with tears trickling down from her eyes. And
Kakuthstha having control over his ownself, with a view to dissuade her
who was angry and engrossed in anxious thoughts, began to console her in
divers ways.
[132] A fabulous animal supposed to have eight legs and to inhabit
particularly the snowy mountains.-- T.
[133] A kind of deer, or rather the _Bos Gruriniens_ erroneously classed
by the Hindu writers amongst the deer.--T.
[134] A young deer.-- T.