Lakshmaṇ, with Fortune's marks impressed,

His brother mournfully addressed:

“Not by my heart's free impulse led,

Leaving thy wife to thee I sped;

But by her keen reproaches sent,

O Ráma, to thine aid I went.

She heard afar a mournful cry,

“O save me, Lakshmaṇ, or I die.”

The voice that spoke in moving tone

Smote on her ear and seemed thine own.