| Thus Raama,
free from sorrow himself, made Seeta happy. Descending from the hill they would sometimes
go to the river Mandaakini and spend time there. "Look at those sand
hillocks," Raama would say. "Look at the swans playing among the lotuses.
The stream is as lovely as yourself, beloved. The fords where animals come to drink are
beautifully red with new earth. Even the river in
Kubera's kingdom cannot be as beautiful as this. Sea the rishis bathing there and standing
in supplication and offering hymns to the sun. Look at the flowers falling from the boughs
on the water. Look at that pearl-scattering cascade. We are indeed lucky to be far away
from the crowded city here in the forest. There, we cannot see rishis and pure souls such
as we see here bathing everyday. This hill is our Ayodhya. The birds and beasts are our
subjects. The Mandaakini is our Sarayu. |
