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In the forest Rama guards Sita and Lakshmana as the lids guard the eyeballs, and Lakshmana serves them both. The telling of Rama’s going to the forest is done, and it turns to how Sumantra came to Ayodhya. On the road Sumantra rehearses the answers he will have to give. The city’s men and women will ask, and the mothers, and the king whose life hangs on Rama. In Kausalya’s house the king rises at his salute and asks him where Rama is.
In this episode of the Ramcharitmanas Guha comes back from seeing Rama off and finds the chariot with the minister. Sumantra cries the three names and falls to the ground. The horses look to the south and neigh. Guha counsels him and gives four servants to go with the charioteer. On the road Sumantra wrings his hands and beats his head. He spends the day under a tree and enters the city in the dark. He finds the king lying on the ground in Kausalya’s house. He counsels patience. Then he reports the halts on the Tamasa and the Ganga, the crossing, and Rama’s messages for his father, the mothers, the guru, the people, and Bharata. Rama has made him swear to keep Lakshmana’s childishness untold. Sita begins to speak, and her words stop.
The chariot that came back without Rama
The main figures in this episode
- Sumantra the minister and charioteer, whom Guha finds with the chariot after seeing Rama off. He cries the names of Rama, Sita, and Lakshmana and falls to the ground. Seated in the chariot by force, he is slack with sorrow and cannot drive it. On the road he calls shame on life without Rama, and he thinks ahead to what he must answer in Ayodhya. At the Tamasa he sends the Nishadas off. He waits out the day under a tree and comes into Ayodhya after dark. He asks where the king is, prostrates before him, and counsels patience. He reports the halts, the boatman’s service, the crossing, and Rama’s messages. He swears not to tell of Lakshmana’s childishness, and he tells how Sita’s words stopped.
- Guha the Nishada king and Rama’s friend, who turns back after seeing Rama off and finds the minister distraught. Holding patience, he tells Sumantra to give up dejection. With soft words he seats him in the chariot by force, and he gives four good servants to go with the charioteer. He sees him off and turns back, and his separation and dejection cannot be told. In Sumantra’s report Rama’s friend sends for the boat, and the commentary takes the boatman who did much service to be Guha.
- Dasharatha the king, who lies on the ground in Kausalya’s house without seat, bed, or ornaments, as if a moon without nectar. Drawing sighs, he worries, as if Yayati had fallen from heaven, and he cries Rama’s name. At the minister’s salute he rises and asks where Rama is. He takes Sumantra to his breast and asks for Rama’s welfare and the message of the three. He asks who is a greater sinner than he, and he tells the minister to take him where they are, or his life will go. Rama’s messages ask that the king be kept from worrying for him.
- Rama who guards Sita and Lakshmana in the forest the way the lids guard the eyeballs, and dwells there happily, a well-wisher of birds, beasts, gods, and ascetics. Sumantra and the king cry his name, and at his name the horses neigh. In Sumantra’s report he seats Sita in the boat and boards. Seeing the minister distraught, he speaks sweet words, holding patience. His father is to have a salute and an entreaty, the mothers contentment, the guru a message, the city’s people and the family an entreaty, and Bharata a message. He forbids Lakshmana and has Sumantra swear, again and again, to say nothing of Lakshmana’s childishness.
- Lakshmana who serves Sita and Rama as an unwise man serves his body. Whoever says his name, the horses neigh and look at that one fondly. The king asks where he is. In the report he sets his bow and arrows in order and boards the boat at Rama’s order. He says some harsh words. Rama forbids him, and the minister is sworn to keep that childishness untold.
- Sita whom Rama guards in the forest. Sumantra and the king cry her name with Rama’s and Lakshmana’s. In the report she bathes and takes water with the two heroes at the Ganga, and Rama seats her in the boat. She says her salute and begins to say something, and goes slack with love. Her words stop, her eyes fill, and her body thrills.
Happiness in the forest, and the horses on the way back
Rama guarded Sita and Lakshmana as the lids guard the eyeballs. Lakshmana served Sita and Rama as an unwise man serves his body. The commentary also reads the line as Lakshmana and Sita serving Rama.
In this way Rama dwelt happily in the forest, a well-wisher of birds, beasts, gods, and ascetics. I have told of Rama’s handsome going to the forest. Now hear how Sumantra came to Ayodhya. The commentary gives this turn to Tulsi.
Guha, having seen Rama off, turned back and found the chariot with the minister. At the sight of the minister distraught, a dejection came to Guha that could not be told. Crying “Rama, Rama, Sita, Lakshmana,” Sumantra fell to the ground, greatly distraught. The commentary sets the fall at the sight of Guha come back alone.
The horses looked toward the south and neighed. It was as if birds without wings were distressed. The commentary adds that the south was the way Rama had gone. They neither grazed nor drank water. They shed water from their eyes. All the Nishadas became distraught, seeing Rama’s horses.
Then, holding patience, Guha said, “Now, Sumantra, give up dejection. You are learned, a knower of the highest truth. Hold patience, seeing the Creator against you.”
Telling stories of many kinds in a soft voice, he brought Sumantra and seated him in the chariot by force. Slack with sorrow, Sumantra could not drive the chariot. The pain of separation from Rama was piercing in his breast.
The horses struggled and did not go along the road. It was as if forest beasts had been brought and yoked to the chariot. They stumbled and fell, and turning, they looked back. Parted from Rama, they were distraught with sharp grief. Whoever said “Rama,” “Lakshmana,” or “Sita,” the horses neighed and looked at that one fondly. How could the horses’ state in separation be told? They were distraught as a snake is without its jewel.
Guha fell into the power of dejection, seeing the minister and the horses. Then, calling four good servants, he gave them to go with the charioteer. Guha, having seen the charioteer off, turned back. His separation and dejection could not be told. The Nishadas set out for Ayodhya with the chariot. Moment by moment they sank in dejection.
Sumantra’s regret on the road
Distraught and wretched with grief, Sumantra thought: “Shame on life without Rama. This wretched body will not last to the end. At the parting from Rama it did not win fame. My life has become a vessel of infamy and sin. For what reason does it not depart? Alas, my dull mind missed its occasion. Even now my heart does not break in two.”
Wringing his hands and beating his head, he regretted. It was as if a miser had lost a heap of wealth. He went on. It was as if a great warrior, taking on a hero’s badge and called a fine hero, had fled the field of battle.
As a discerning brahmin, who knows the Veda, whose conduct the good approve, and who is of good birth, drinks wine by mistake, so the minister worried.
A clever wife of good family and good nature holds her husband a god in deed, mind, and word. By the power of karma, such a wife may stay apart from her husband. As she burns then, so a terrible burning was in the minister’s heart.
His eyes were full of water, and his sight grew dim. His ears could not hear. His wit, distraught, went astray. His lips dried, and his mouth was clammy. His life did not go. In his breast was the door of the term. The commentary reads the door as the hope that Rama would be met again when the fourteen years had passed.
He lost his color and could not be looked at. It was as if he had killed his father and mother. Loss and great remorse filled his mind, as a sinner worries on the road to Yama’s city. No words came. In his heart he regretted.
Questions that no one has asked yet
He thought: “What shall I see, going to Ayodhya? Whoever sees the chariot without Rama will be embarrassed to look at me. When the city’s distraught men and women come running and ask me, I will give them all an answer then, setting a thunderbolt in my heart.”
“All the mothers, wretched and grieving, will ask. What shall I say to them, Creator? When Lakshmana’s mother asks, what happy message shall I tell her? Rama’s mother will come running, as a cow that has just calved comes remembering her calf. When she asks, I will give her this answer: Rama, Lakshmana, and Sita have gone to the forest.”
“Whoever asks, I must answer. Going to Ayodhya now, this is the happiness I will have. When the king asks, wretched with grief, he whose life hangs on Rama, with what face shall I answer that I have seen the princes off safe? Hearing the message of Lakshmana, Sita, and Rama, the king will give up his body like straw.”
“My heart did not crack, as mud does when the beloved water parts from it. I know the Creator has given me this body for torment.” The commentary adds that this is the body sinners are given to suffer hell.
A day under a tree, and the city entered in the dark
As he regretted this way on the road, the chariot came quickly to the bank of the Tamasa. Making entreaty, Sumantra sent the Nishadas off. They turned back, falling at his feet, distraught with dejection.
The minister was embarrassed at entering the city. It was as if he had killed a guru, a brahmin, or a cow. Sitting under a tree, he spent the day. At dusk he found his occasion.
He entered Ayodhya in the dark. He went into the palace, leaving the chariot at the door. Those who got the news came to the king’s door to see the chariot. When they had recognized the chariot and seen the horses distraught, their bodies melted as hail does in sunshine. The city’s women and men were distraught as fish are when the water shrinks.
Hearing of the minister’s coming, all the queens’ quarters became distraught. The palace seemed frightful to him, as if it were the ghosts’ home. The commentary reads the ghosts’ home as a cremation ground.
In great distress all the queens asked. No answer came, and his speech was distraught. His ears could not hear, and his eyes could not see. He asked each one, “Say, where is the king?” The maids saw the minister’s distraught state and led him to Kausalya’s house.
The king asks his friend where Rama is
Going in, Sumantra saw how the king was. It was as if a moon without nectar shone. Without seat, bed, or ornaments, he lay on the ground, altogether sad. Drawing sighs, he worried. It was as if Yayati had fallen from heaven.
Moment by moment he filled his breast with worry. It was as if Sampati had fallen with his wings burnt. The commentary names Sampati the brother of Jatayu. “Rama, Rama,” the king said, and “loving Rama,” as the commentary reads the line. Then he said, “Rama, Lakshmana, Sita.”
Seeing him and saying, “Victory, long life,” the minister prostrated in salute. Hearing it, the king rose, distraught. “Say, Sumantra, where is Rama?”
The king took Sumantra to his breast. It was as if a drowning man had found some hold. Seating him near with love, the king asked, his eyes filled with water. “Tell me of Rama’s welfare, loving friend. Where are Rama, Lakshmana, and Sita? Did you bring them back, or have they gone to the forest?” As he heard it, water filled the minister’s eyes.
Distraught with sorrow, the king asked again. “Tell me the message of Sita, Rama, and Lakshmana.” Remembering again and again Rama’s form, virtues, good conduct, and nature, the king worried in his breast. “I announced the kingship and gave him exile in the forest. At hearing it, his mind had neither joy nor sadness. Parted from such a son, my life did not go. Who is a greater sinner than I?”
“Friend, take me where Rama, Sita, and Lakshmana are. Otherwise my life wants to go now. I say it truly.” Again and again the king asked the minister. “Tell me the message of the dearest sons. Friend, quickly make that effort by which you show Rama, Lakshmana, and Sita to my eyes.”
Holding patience, the minister spoke in a soft voice.
Words of patience, and the news from the Ganga
“King, you are learned and wise,” Sumantra said. “You, lord, are foremost among heroes and the steady. You have always served the company of the good.”
“Birth and death, all enjoyments of grief and happiness, loss and gain, and meeting and parting from the dear. These come, master, by the power of time and karma, by force, like night and day.”
“The dull rejoice in happiness and weep in grief. The steady hold both alike in their minds. Hold patience, considering with discernment. Give up worry, you who do good to all.”
“The first halt was on the Tamasa, the second on the bank of the Ganga. Bathing, the two heroes with Sita stayed, taking water.”
“The boatman did much service. That night was spent at Shringaverapura. At daybreak the milk of the banyan was sent for, and crowns of matted hair were made on the head.” The commentary takes the boatman to be the Nishada king, Guha. It gives the crowns to Rama and Lakshmana, made on their own heads.
“Then Rama’s friend sent for the boat. Seating his beloved, Rama boarded. Lakshmana set his bow and arrows in order and boarded himself, getting the Lord’s order.”
“Seeing me distraught, Rama spoke sweet words, holding patience.”
Messages for the father, the mothers, the guru, and the city
Sumantra gave Rama’s words. “Dear one, say my salute to father. Clasp his lotus feet again and again. Make entreaty again, falling at his feet: Father, do not worry for me. On the forest road, blessing and welfare are ours, by your grace, favor, and merit.”
“By your favor, father, going to the forest I will find every happiness. Keeping your order, I will come back safe to see your feet again.”
Rama’s words turned to the minister again. “Contenting all the mothers, falling at their feet again and again and making much entreaty, make that effort by which the lord of Kosala stays well.”
“Tell the guru the message, clasping his lotus feet again and again: let him give that counsel by which the lord of Ayodhya does not worry for me.”
“Pleading with all the city’s people and the family, dear one, tell them my entreaty: he is my well-wisher in every way by whose doing the king stays happy.”
A message for Bharata, and Sita’s words that stopped
“When Bharata comes, tell him the message: do not give up policy on gaining the king’s place. Protect the people in deed, mind, and word. Serve all the mothers, knowing them alike.”
“Carry brotherhood through to the end, brother, doing service to father, mothers, and kin. Dear one, keep the king in such a way that he never worries for me.”
Sumantra went on. “Lakshmana said some harsh words. Forbidding him, Rama then pleaded with me. Again and again he made me swear by himself: dear one, do not tell of Lakshmana’s childishness.”
“Saying her salute, Sita began to say something, and went slack with love. Her words stopped. Her eyes filled with water, and her body was leafed over with thrilling.”
The course of the episode
Rama guarded Sita and Lakshmana in the forest, and the telling turned to Sumantra. Guha came back from seeing Rama off and found him with the chariot. The minister fell to the ground crying the three names. The horses looked south and neighed, and they neither grazed nor drank. Guha told him to give up dejection, seated him by force in the chariot, and gave four servants to go with him. Then Guha turned back.
On the road Sumantra called shame on his life, wrung his hands, and beat his head. His sight dimmed, his ears failed, and his lips dried. His life did not go. He rehearsed the answers he would have to give in the city, to the mothers, and before the king. At the Tamasa he sent the Nishadas off. He sat the day out under a tree and entered Ayodhya after dark. Those who heard the news came to see the chariot, and they saw the horses distraught. The queens asked, and he had no answer. The maids led him to Kausalya’s house.
There the king lay on the ground, drawing sighs and crying Rama’s name. He rose at the minister’s salute and asked where Rama was. He held him to his breast and asked after Rama’s welfare and the three’s message. He asked who was a greater sinner than he. He asked to be taken where they were. Sumantra counseled patience and said that meeting and parting are subject to time and karma. He reported the two halts, on the Tamasa and on the Ganga’s bank. Then he told of the boatman’s service, the night at Shringaverapura, the matted crowns, and the boarding of the boat. He gave Rama’s messages in their order. For his father, a salute and an entreaty. For the mothers, contentment. For the guru, a request for counsel. For the city and the family, an entreaty. For Bharata, a message on policy, the people, the mothers, and brotherhood. He had been made to swear by Rama to leave Lakshmana’s childishness untold. Sita’s salute came, and her words stopped.
The same story, elsewhere: Valmiki’s Ramayana, chapter 9: The Death of Dasharatha.
Source: the Gita Press edition of Tulsidas’s Ramcharitmanas, Ayodhyakand, doha 142 to 152, read with Hanuman Prasad Poddar’s Hindi commentary.