Hari Om.
Let us begin the sixty fifth sarga of the sundara kAnDam by offering our prostrations at the lotus feet of SrIrAma and our sathguru.
The elderly dadhimukha, protector of the regal grove madhuvana, the pleasure park of the vAnara royalty ran to sugrIva. He and his guards were assaulted by the revelling vAnaras who were triumphant. They were celebrating both their success of finding sItA as well as retaining their lives, saved by hanumAn! As he fell at the feet of the king sugrIva and explained to him the ransacking of the madhuvana, sugrIva, knowing who did it, at once understood that the south-bound troupe had actually succeeded in the mission! As lakshmaNa was at a loss to understand the anxiety of dadhimukha, sugrIva explained to him the happenings as well as his reading of the matter that the mission has been accomplished. Further detailing his astuteness and how well he knew his bunch, he foretold that it was hanumAn who would have accomplished the task! He summoned them through dadhimukha. The elderly vAnara also understood the importance of the whole matter and happily went, apologized to angada for trying to preventing their revelry and told him that the king wanted to see them at once. The vAnaras who had accomplished their partying by then, got ready and leapt to where sugrIva camped led by hanumAn and prince angada. The accomplisher hanumAn fell at the feet of rAma and told him that the self-restrained sItA has been found and she is safe. After a long time, rAma and lakshmaNa experienced joy. Onwards…
The south-bound vANaras descended on the praSravaNa mountain in the middle of the sylvan forest and prostrated with heads bowed down to rAma and lakshmaNa. Along with prince angada they paid respect to the king sugrIva and began narrating the whereabouts of sItA. In the presence of rAma, the vAnaras recounted her captivity in the private gardens of rAvaNa, her regard for rAma and the deadline that was fixed for her (by rAvaNa). Learning about the safety of sItA, rAma asked –
वैदेहीमक्षतां श्रुत्वा रामस्तूत्तरमब्रवीत्।।5.65.4।।
क्व सीता वर्तते देवी कथं च मयि वर्तते।
एतन्मे सर्वमाख्यात वैदेहीं प्रति वानराः।।5.65.5।।
“O vAnaras, how is sItA and particularly how is she disposed towards me, please tell me in detail”.
Hearing these words of rAma, the vAnaras requested the expert in the knowledge of sItA, hanumAn to speak. Honouring their request, the son of the wind god, hanumAn first turned to the direction in which sItA was (south), bowed in reverence, gave the glittering crown jewel given by sItA to rAma and articulated the manner in which he found sItA –
श्रुत्वा तु वचनं तेषां हनुमान्मारुतात्मजः।
प्रणम्य शिरसा देव्यै सीतायै तां दिशं प्रति।।5.65.7।।
उवाच वाक्यं वाक्यज्ञस्सीताया दर्शनं यथा।
“I leapt across the ocean that was a hundred yOjanas long. Keen to find jAnakI, I reached the city called lanka that belonged to the wicked rAvaNa and was situated on the southern banks of the ocean. There in the private grove of rAvaNa, I saw dEvI sItA being repeatedly tormented by the ogresses and kept in captivity. O rAma, she lives, having offered her desire to be protected to you.
तत्र दृष्टा मया सीता रावणान्तः पुरे सती।।5.65.10।।
सन्न्यस्य त्वयि जीवन्ती रामा राम मनोरथम्।
She sleeps on the earth, with hair un-braided and always lost in your thoughts. She has wilted like the lotus at the onset of winter. To escape the torment of rAvaNa, she is ready to even lay down her life. O kautstha (rAma), that dEvI who is always thinking only of you was somehow found by me. She gained confidence in me after I slowly and clearly narrated the greatness of the ikshvAku clan. I then spoke to her in detail, presented all the details regarding how I came there. She was very delighted to hear about the friendship between you and king sugrIva. O rAma, the best among men, this is how I saw the daughter of janaka, who is observing intense penance out of her devotion to you. She lives a life of restraint, great conduct and in devotion to you.
तत स्सम्भाषिता देवी सर्वमर्थं च दर्शिता।।5.65.16।।
रामसुग्रीवसख्यं च श्रुत्वा प्रीतिमुपागता।
नियत स्समुदाचारो भक्तिश्चास्यास्तथा त्वयि।।5.65.17।।
She told me about the saga of the crow that happened in chitrkUTa when you were with her. She also gave me this crown jewel which she had preserved carefully to be given to you. She said she felt your presence looking at this wonderful jewel that was born in the ocean whenever she felt low. She also asked me to remind you about the tilaka extracted from the herb manaSSila. When her tilaka was wiped off you had put this on her cheek (instead of the forehead)!
‘O rAma, I will hold onto this life for a month more and in the captivity of the ogresses I shall not live beyond that’, this is what she asked me to convey to you.
Thus the very dharmic sItA, emaciated, captive in the grove of rAvaNa, spoke to me. O rAghava, I have narrated everything to you as they happened. We now have to concentrate on crossing the ocean”.
एतदेव मयाख्यातं सर्वं राघव यद्यथा।।5.65.26।।
सर्वथा सागरजले संतारः प्रविधीयताम्।
Grasping that the princes duo were relieved, hanumAn presented the crown jewel and narrated the saga of sItA in a detailed and orderly manner in its entirety.
Here we conclude the sixty fifth sarga of the sundara kAnDam of SrImath vAlmiKi rAmAyaNam and humbly offer it at the lotus feet of SrIrAma. Hari: Om!
jAi SrIrAma.
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Next: 5.66. Bitter reality and sweet memories torment rAma
Previous: 5.64. Seen by me is dEvI sItA
rAmabhaktisAmrAjyam 