Make Ráma flee, who loves the right,

And Lakshmaṇ of the arm of might?

Whither, great Monarch, wilt thou go

And leave this people in their woe,

Mourning their hero, wild with grief,

Of Ráma reft, their lion chief?

Ah, who will guard the people well

Who in Ayodhyá's city dwell,

When thou, my sire, hast sought the sky,

And Ráma has been forced to fly?