Then seeing the king lying down stupified with grief Kaucalya aggrieved
for her son, spake unto the lord of earth, saying,--'O best of men,
having vented her venom upon Raghava, the crooked Kaikeyi will go about
like a she- serpent that has cast off her slough. And that fortunate one
having by her endeavours attained her end, will frighten me the more
like a wicked serpent in one's house. If Rama had stayed in this city
subsisting himself by alms, or had I made my son as Kaikeyi's slave,
even that would have been preferable (before his retirement to the
woods). Like unto the sacrificial share cast unto the Rakshasas by the
sacrificers on the occasions of Parvas, that wielder of the bow, the
mighty-armed Rama, gifted with the gait of the prince of elephants, cast
off by Kaikeyi, takes refuge in the forest in company with his wife and
Lakshmana. Despatched by you to the woods at the command of Kaikeyi, to
what a plight will they, not inured to the privations of a forest-life,
be reduced! And bereft of elegant apparel, how will they of tender
years, exiled in this time of enjoyment, pass their lives in misery,
subsisting on fruits and roots! Will such a time present itself now that
my grief removed and my desire attained, I shall here behold Raghava
along with his wife and brother? When, hearing that those heroes have
come, will Ayodhya adorned with standards and garlands, attain fame,
with her populace filled with joy? When, seeing those foremost of men
returned from the forest, will the city overflow with delight, like the
ocean on the occasion of a Parva? When will the mighty-armed hero enter
the city of Ayodhya, placing Sita" before him on the car,--like unto a
bull having his bovine mate before him? When will people by thousands
shower fried paddy upon my sons on the road, as those repressors of foes
will enter the city? When shall I behold those (two) wearing burnished
ear-rings, entering Ayodhya, placing before them their weapons and
swords, like unto two hills furnished with their summits? When accepting
flowers from girls and fruits from Brahmanas, will they, filled with
delight, go round the palace? When with his intelligence ripened by
time, although resembling a celestial in age, will that righteous-souled
one come here, rejoicing people like a _Trivarsha_?[144] Doubtless, O
hero, formerly of vile ways that I was, I had cut off the paps of kine
and thus prevented their calves hungering after their mothers' milk,
from drinking it. And it is for this sin that, O foremost of men, have
I, attached to my son, been forcibly deprived of him by Kaikeyi, like a
cow deprived of her calf by a lion. Having an only son, I dare not live
without him endowed with every virtue and versed in every branch of
learning. Not seeing my beloved son and the mighty Lakshmana, I cannot
live at all. As in summer the divine Sun furnished with fierce rays
burns this earth, even so this raging fire of grief on account of my son
consumes me."
[144] _Three consecutive showers_, favourable to the crops.--T.