And thus his further tidings told:

“Their locks in votive coils they wound,

Their coats of bark upon them bound,

To Gangá's farther shore they went,

Thence to Prayág their steps were bent.

I saw that Lakshmaṇ walked ahead

To guard the path the two should tread.

So far I saw, no more could learn,

Forced by the hero to return.

Retracing slow my homeward course,