Having at first conducted Sitā to the spacious and well decorated boat
plied by fishermen Lakshmana himself got up. Thereupon he ordered
Sumantra to wait there with the chariot, and being beside himself with
sorrow ordered the sailors to move on. Thereupon having reached the
other side of Bhāgirathi, Lakshmana, with subdued voice and folded
palms, said to Sitā—"O daughter of the king of Videha, this hath pierced
my heart like a dart, that my brother, by making me the instrumental of
this action hath made me the object of censure in the world. The death
and the pain consequent upon it are better than the action I am engaged
in. Be thou propitiated, O beautiful damsel, do not hold me responsible
for this." Saying this, the humble Lakshmana began to weep and pray for
death. Beholding him thus overwhelmed, Sitā said "What is the matter,
Lakshmana? I do not understand anything, Do thou speak out everything
plainly unto me. I find thee beside thyself (with grief); is it all well
with the kingdom? In the name of the king, do thou give out unto me, the
cause of thy sorrow." Sitā having addressed him thus, Lakshmana, with a
poorly heart and suppressed tone, said "O worshipful queen, I have kept
within my heart all those words, which the king said, before he entered
his palace, rendered sorry and impatient on hearing in the assembly the
report of censure regarding thee, O daughter of king Janaka. All those
words are indeed above description and so I desist. I only say so much,
that afraid of the calumny of the citizens he hath renounced thee
although thy purity was sufficiently proved before me. But for that, do
not consider thyself in any way guilty. Rāma hath commanded me to leave
thee near the hermitage on the pretext of satisfying thine desire as
thou art big with a child. Do not uselessly give vent to sorrow any
more. There is the holy hermitage of the saints on the banks of Jānhavi.
There lives Vālmiki, the foremost of saints, a great friend of our sire
Daçaratha. O daughter of Janaka, approaching that high-souled saint, do
thou spend thy days happily keeping Rāma always in thy mind. Do thou
satisfy the deities, O chaste damsel. This shall crown thee with
auspiciousness."