Then Kaikeyi brought a bark dress for Seeta too. She received it and stood
bewildered, for she had never worn such garments before and did not know how to change
into them.
Approaching Raama, who stood there
resplendent with divine effulgence, Seeta said shyly: "Pray tell me, how does one put
this thing on?" As Raama took up the bark dress and, wrapping it over Seeta's silk,
made a knot over her shoulder, the ladies- in-waiting wailed aloud and Dasaratha fell into
a swoon.
When he regained consciousness, he loudly
reviled Kaikeyi, but she only smiled scornfully. She surely was not responsible for Seeta
going to the forest. The princess sought her own pleasure by going to the forest with her
husband and would not be dissuaded. |
