So long as he could see the dust raised by the car of Rama setting out
for the forest, so long that best of the Ikshwaku race did not turn his
eyes from that direction. And so long as the king could discover his
exceedingly virtuous and favorite son, so long he raised himself (on his
toes) on the earth with the view of beholding him. And when the ruler of
earth could no longer perceive even the dust raised by Rama's car, then
pierced with sorrow, and in heaviness of heart, he fell down to the
ground. Then (raising him up), Kaucalya held his right arm and walked
with him, while the slender-waisted Kaikeyi walked by his left. Endowed
with a sense of justice and with virtue and humility, the king with
afflicted senses steadily eyeing Kaikeyi, thus spake unto her,--"O
Kaikeyi, that hast decided for following sin, do thou not touch my
person,--nor do I wish to see thee. Thou art no wife of mine--not even a
maid-servant of a friend sharing his good graces. I am none to those
that subsist on thy favour, nor are they anything to me. I renounce thee
who solely seekest thy interest and hast abandoned virtue. I renounce
all the advantages pertaining either to this world or the next which I
am entitled to by virtue of having obtained thy hand and having made
thee circumambulate the sacrifical fire. If Bharata is satisfied with
receiving this entire kingdom, let not what he spends on account of my
funeral obsequies find its way to me." Then raising the lord of men
covered with dust, the noble Kaucalya pierced with grief, stopped (along
with the monarch). The righteous one remembering Raghava repented
himself, as if he had slain a Brahmana through inordinate desire, or as
if he had placed his hand in fire. And having stopped again and again,
the visage of the monarch lamenting on beholding the track of the car,
appeared dim like the Moon invaded by Rahu. And stricken with grief, he
lamented, remembering his beloved son; and thinking that by this time he
had reached the precincts of the city, he broke out into the
following,--"On the way are traced the foot-prints of those foremost of
bearers that are carrying my son away; but that magnanimous one I do not
find. And that meritorious son of mine, who, doubed with sandal, used to
rest his head pleasantly upon a pillow, fanned by beauteous damsels
decked in ornaments, will to-day surely take refuge underneath a tree,
and lay his head on a wooden plank or a stone. Covered with dust, he
heaving sighs will rise from the ground in sad guise, like a leader of
she-elephants rising from the side of a mountain. The rangers of the
woods will now see the long-armed Rama resembling the lord himself of
the worlds, rising from the ground and going like one forlorn. And that
one so dearly loved by Janaka, worthy of being constantly ministered
unto with comforts, is to-day going to the forest, fatigued in
consequence of having been pierced with thorns. Unacquainted with the
forest, she is certainly afflicted with fright on hearing the deep roars
of ferocious beasts, capable of making one's hair stand erect. O
Kaikeyi, do thou realize thy desire,--do thou becoming a widow, rule
this kingdom. Without that best of men I cannot live." Thus lamenting,
the king surrounded by the multitude, like one that had performed his
bath after death, entered that best of cities filled with people
enfeebled and smitten with grief, with its streets thined of men and its
stalls closed. And beholding that entire city, with his mind fixed upon
Rama, the king lamenting, like unto the sun entering clouds, entered
that city like unto an unagitated sea rid of serpents by Suparna,[142]
the city without Rama or Lakshmana or Sita. Then with tears in his eyes,
the lord of earth, lamenting, in unintelligible accents said these sad
and broken words,--"Do you speedily take me to the room of Rama's
mother, Kaucalya; for in no other place shall I find rest for my heart."
When the king had spoken thus, the ushers taking him to Kaucalya's
chamber, made him lie down in lowly plight. And having entered
Kaucalya's apartment, the king having laid himself on the bed, was
overwhelmed with emotion. And the king surveyed the mansion deprived of
his two sons as well as his daughter-in-law, like unto the welkin
deprived of the Moon. Beholding this, the puissant sovereign raising up
his arm, burst out into lamentations, saying,-- "Ah! Rama, thou
forsakest us both! Ah me! surely those blessed people are happy, who
having passed this gap of time, will behold Rama returned and will
embrace him." Then when the night had come like unto his own fatal
night, Dacaratha at mid-night addressed Kaucalya saying,--"I do not
perceive thee, O Kaucalya. Do thou touch me with thy hand. My sight
having followed Rama doth not return yet." Then seeing that foremost of
men absorbed in the contemplation of Rama, that noble dame sat by him,
and afflicted with greater grief, began to indulge a sorrow,[143]
sighing heavily.
[142] _Lit, fair-feathered_, a name of _Garura_.--r.
[143] Another text reads _vinisvasantan_, joining it to
_narendram_--foremopst of men.--T.