Still shalt thou live within the heart to which thou art so dear.”
Yet Sîtâ still refuses to be parted from her husband, and with tearful eyes exclaims:—
“And death to me were sweeter far, with thine arms round me thrown,
Than life in thy father’s palaces, in safety, but alone.
The wife’s eternal duty is, as holy priests declare,
To follow where her husband goes, his weal and woe to share;
And for the true and loving wife remains the endless bliss
Of sharing all this life with him, and the life that follows this.”
But, Râma being still inexorable, Sîtâ bursts forth in anger, upbraids him for his cruelty in deserting her, and finally, overcome by emotion, falls weeping at his feet. Then Râma raises her in his arms, and pours these soothing accents in her ear:—
“Oh! what is heaven without thee, love? With thee I’ll live and die;