SECTION CIV.
Desirous of seeing Rāma, Vasishtha, taking before him the wives of Daçarātha, proceeded towards the hermitage. And as the wives of the king were going slowly by the Mandākini, they discovered the landing-place which was used by Rāma and Lakshmana. Thereupon Kauçalyā, with her eyes filled with tears and her countenance rendered pale, observed unto the forlorn Sumitrā as well as the other wives of the king, "Sacred like unto a first wife, in this forest this is the landing-place of those unfortunate ones of untiring energy, who had been deprived of the kingdom. From here, O Sumitrā, doth thy son, Saumitri, ever vigilant, personally procure water for my son. Although thy son performeth a servile office, yet he is not to blame: (the performance of) that alone which serves no purpose of his brother possessed of many perfections, could bring blame upon him. To day let thy son, who doth not deserve such toilsome work, cease to perform that office which is fraught with hardships fit only for the base." That lady of expansive eyes happened to see on the earth the Ingudi pinda, which had been placed by Rāma for his sire on the darbha with their tops pointing southwards. Seeing this, which had been placed on the ground by Rāma disconsolate for his sire, the noble Kauçalyā addressed all the wives of Daçarātha, saying, "Do ye behold this that hath been duly offered to the high-souled descendant of Raghu—lord of the Ikshvāku race—by Rāghava. I do not deem this as fit fare for that magnanimous monarch resembling a celestial, who had enjoyed every luxury (in life). Having enjoyed this earth bounded by the four seas, how can that lord of the world, resembling on earth the mighty Indra, feed on this Ingudi pinda? Nothing appeareth to me more deplorable in this world than this that the auspicious Rāma hath offered an Ingudi cake unto his father. Seeing the Ingudi pinda offered by Rāma unto his father, why doth not my heart break into a thousand shivers? Now the tradition in vogue among men, appearth to be true, viz., that "the fare that is partaken by a person, is also partaken by his deity." Then those that were co-wives with her, consoled the distressed Kauçalyā; and, (entering the asylum), beheld Rāma like an immortal dropped from the celestial regions. Seeing Rāma, who had been deprived of every comfort, his mothers, overwhehhed with grief and distress, began to shed tears, lamenting. Raising his mothers, that foremost of men, Rāma, true to his promise, took hold of those lotus feet of theirs. And those ones furnished with expansive eyes, (on their turn) by means of their fair hands of delicious feel furnished with soft fingers and palms, fell to rubbing the dust off Rāma's back. After Rāma had done, Sumitrā's son also, seeing all his mothers, with sorrow gently paid his reverence unto them with affection. Thereat, as they had treated Rāma, all the ladies treated that one sprung from Daçarātha, Lakshmana, graced with auspicious marks. Sitā also with her eyes filled with tears, having taken hold of the feet of her mothers-in- law, stood before them in distressful guise. Embracing that woeful one in banishment, even as a mother doth her daughter, Kauçalyā, smitten with grief, said, "The daughter of Videha's King, and the daughter-in-law of Daçarātha, and the wife of Rāma himself—why doth such a lady undergo misery in the lone forest? O Vaidehi, beholding thy face like unto a lotus heated under the sun, or a lily that hath been crushed, or like unto gold covered with dust, or the moon enveloped by clouds, grief begot of this vortex of disaster that is in my mind, fiercely burneth me, as fire consumeth a structure." As his wretched mother was thus speaking, Bharata's elder brother, Rāghava, approaching, took the feet of Vasishtha. Having taken hold of the feet of the priest resembling a flame, and of accumulated energy,—like unto that lord of the immortals, Indra, taking the feet of Vrihaspati, Rāghava sat down with him. Then behind them (Rāma and Vasishtha), along with his own counsellors, and principal citizens, and generals, and persons of eminent piety,—sat the virtuous Bharata in the presence of his elder brother. Seeing Rāghava in the guise of an ascetic, flaming in grace, the exceedingly powerful Bharata with joined palms sat down in company with his brother, like the great Indra of controlled faculties in presence of Prajapāti. "What will Bharata, having bowed unto Rāghava and paid him homage, will say to him?" —this intense curiosity arose in (the minds of) all the noble persons present there. And Rāghava having truth and forbearance, and Laksmana endowed with magnanimity, and Bharata possessed of righteousness, surrounded by their friends, appeared (there) like unto the three fires surrounded by Sadasyas.