Chapter 25 - Sita gives way to Despair

The many barbarous threats of the titan women, caused the daughter of Janaka to give way to tears and the noble Vaidehi, terror stricken, in a voice broken by sobs, answered them, saying:—

“A mortal woman may not be the wife of a titan; tear me to pieces if you will but I shall never follow your counsels.”

Surrounded by those demons and threatened by Ravana, Sita, who resembled the daughter of a God, could find no refuge anywhere and, seized with violent trembling, she shrank away from them, as a fawn in the forest, separated from the herd, surrounded by wolves. Clinging to the flowering branch of an Ashoka tree, sunk in grief, Sita bethought herself of her lord. Streams of tears bathed her lovely breast and overcome with affliction, she could see no end to her distress. Like a plantain tree uprooted by the storm, she lay, the fear that the titan women inspired in her blanching her cheek; her long thick plait moving to and fro as she shook, resembling a gliding serpent.

Groaning in her grief and overcome with indignation, Maithili, weeping, began to lament, exclaiming sorrowfully:—“O Rama!” and again, “O Lakshmana”, “O My Mother Kaushalya”, “O Sumitra”. “True indeed is the saying of the sages: ‘neither man nor woman can die ere the hour strikes’, since tormented by the savage titans and separated from Rama, I am still able to survive an instant. Alas I A woman of little virtue and wretched, I am about to die far from my protector as a laden vessel founders in the midst of the waves driven by the blast of the tempest. In the absence of my lord, I am sinking under the load of my affliction, like a river bank undermined by the current. Happy are those who are able to look upon my lord, whose eyes resemble the petals of the blossoming trees, whose gait is like a lion’s and who is full of gratitude and gentle of speech. Deprived of the presence of Rama of subdued soul, it is as hard for me to breathe as for him who has swallowed a virulent poison and henceforth my life is forfeit. What heinous fault have I committed in a previous existence that I should now have to suffer such cruel misfortune? So intense is my grief that I long to die, but alas, I am surrounded by these titan women and cannot be reunited with Rama. Cursed is the human state, cursed is dependence on others, since one may not yield up one’s life when one so desires it.”