Chapter 34 - Sita’s Uncertainty on seeing Hanuman

Hearing the words of Sita, who was stricken with grief, Hanuman, the foremost among monkeys, in order to reassure her, said:—

“O Divine Vaidehi, by Rama’s decree I have come as a messenger to you; he is safe and enquires as to your welfare. Rama, the son of Dasaratha, who is versed in the Veda, conversant with the use of the Brahmastra, the foremost of the learned, offers salutations to you, O Queen 1 The highly resplendent Lakshmana too, the most powerful and cherished companion of your lord, in the midst of his burning anxieties, bows before you and wishes you well.”

Hearing of the welfare of those two lions among men, Sita, trembling with delight, said to Hanuman:—“Verily the wise say that happiness visits a man even if it be at the end of a hundred years.”

Thereupon Sita and Hanuman began to converse with delight and mutual confidence. Hearing Sita speak in this wise, Hanuman, the son of Maruta drew nearer to her who had been overwhelmed with grief and, as he did so, she grew apprehensive and reflected:—“Alas! Why have I entered into converse with him? It is Ravana in another guise!” Thereupon, letting go the Ashoka branch, Maithili of faultless limbs, exhausted with suffering, sank down on the earth.

Then that long-armed monkey bowed unto Janaka’s daughter, who, filled with terror, did not dare raise her eyes to him, yet, seeing him bowing humbly before her, Sita, whose face resembled the moon, sighed deeply and said to him in gende accents:—

“If you are Ravana’s self, who has assumed a perfidious guise in order to increase my distress, it is a vile act. You are he, who, renouncing his own shape, appeared to me in Janasthana as a mendicant, O Ranger of the Night. O You, wearing shapes at will, it does not behove you to torment me, who am distressed and emaciated with fasting.

“Yet you canst not be he whom I fear, since my heart feels delight in seeing you. If you are truly Rama’s messenger, may good betide you! You are welcome, O Best of Monkeys for it is sweet to me to hear of Rama. Set forth the virtues of Rama, O Monkey, and ravish my soul, O Gentle One, as the current of a river bears away its banks. O how sweet a dream does an inhabitant of the woods bring to me so long after mine abduction! If I might only see the valiant Raghava accompanied by Lakshmana once more but even a dream denies me this delight. Can it be a dream? To see a monkey in dream does not give rise to happiness yet I am happy now 1 Is my mind not deranged or has fasting disturbed the humours of my body and caused this delusion or is it perchance a mirage? Nay, it cannot be an hallucination for I am in full possession of my senses and perceive this monkey clearly.”

Such were the thoughts that haunted Sita, as also that the titans were able to change their form at will, which convinced her that this was the King of the Titans himself. Having arrived at this conclusion, the daughter of Janaka, of slender waist, ceased to converse with the monkey but Hanuman, divining what was passing through her mind, consoled her with sweet words, enhancing her delight saying:—

“Bright as the sun and like the moon, beloved of all, that sovereign of the world is as munificent as Kuvera. In valour resembling the glorious Vishnu, of sweet and truthful speech like unto Vacaspati, handsome, illustrious and fortunate like the God of Love, the just dispenser of punishment to evil-doers, he is the foremost of car-warriors in the world.

“He in whose arms the whole world takes refuge, that magnanimous Raghava was lured away from the hermitage by means of Marica in the form of a deer, thus allowing Ravana to bear you away. Soon shall that mighty hero destroy Ravana in combat with his fiery shafts discharged in anger. It is he, who has sent me with these tidings. Worn with grief at your separation, he enquires as to your welfare, as also the highly resplendent Lakshmana, enhancer of Sumitra’s delight, who offers salutations to you. The king of the monkey hosts, Sugriva by name, who is Rama’s friend, also pays homage to you; Rama, Lakshmana and Sugriva have you ever in mind; though subject to the titans, by good fortune you dost still live, O Vaidehi. Ere long you shalt behold Rama and Lakshmana of the great car with Sugriva of limitless prowess.

“I am Sugriva’s minister, the monkey Hanuman, I have entered the city of Lanka, having crossed the ocean, thus setting my foot on the head of Ravana of perverse soul. I have come here to see you, depending on my own prowess, I am not he whom you deemest me to be. Do you renounce your doubts, and have confidence in my words.”