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Hearixe those unpleasant words of R&vana, the lord of Rakshasas, Sita, racked with sorrow on account of her hushand, became terrified, like unto a she-elephant, worsted by a lion on the skirt of a forest. Threatened by Ravana and encircled by the Rakshasees, that timid damsel bewailed like a girl cast off in a lonely forest. “Truly the sages say that death in this world doth not come untimely. Or else * The sections 2$ and 29 are not found in all the texts. They are found ia Bengal edition. Gorressio translates it and remarks—"I think the chapter XXVIII—The auspicious signs—is an addition, a later interpolation by the Rhapsudists. It has no bund of connection cither with what precedes or follows it and may be struck out withuut injury.” We have however thought it proper to give a full version.—T.

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would I have, vicious as I am, lived for a moment, being thus sorely threatened. Forsooth, my mind, divested of happiness and full of misery, is firm or else why is it not broken in sunder like unto the summit of a hill clapped by a thunderbolt. Nor am I to blame for this—I am wortliy of being killed by this demon of uncomely presence. As a Brahmana cannot impart instructions in Vedas unto the people of other castes so I shall not confer my mind on Ravana. If that lord of the people doth not come within the appointed time, forsooth shall that vile lord, of the Rakshasas, mince “my limbs with his arrows like unto a surgeon cutting off the limbs of an embryo.* Two months shall pass away in no time and I shall have to suffer the pain of death, overwhelmed with sorrow as I am, like unto a thief, confined in stocks, at the command of the sovereign to receive death the next morning. O Rima! O Lakshmana ! O Sumitra! O Rama’s mother! O my mothers! I am worsted in this ocean of grief, like unto a bark, driven hither and thither by the blast, in the midst of an ocean. Verily for me, those two powerful, lion-like sons of the king, have been killed by (this demon) effulgent like the lightning and assuming the semblance of a deer. Unfortunate as I am, forsooth I was tempted then by death wearing the shape of a deer and thus foolishly lost Rama and Lakshmana, the sons of the worshipful sire. O Rama, O thou of truthful vows, O thou of long arms, O thou having the countenance of a full moon ! O my life! engaged as thou art in the welfare of the people, dost thou not perceive that I am about to be killed by the Rakshasas. Alas! this my devotedness unto my hucband, my forgiveness, my lying down on the bare earth, my observance of religious vows, my wife-like virtues, are lost like unto service done for an ungrateful wight. In vain are my pious rites, and in vain is my devotedness unto my * This passage clearly indicates that there were proficient and skilled surgeons at the time when R4m4yana was written.—T.

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husband—since I do not behold thee, am pale and feeble in thy absence and have given up all hopes of seeing thee. And duly satisfying thy sire’s command, and returning successfully from the forest, thou slralt fearlessly sport with many a damsel having large eyes. (But for me) O Rama, I was for my own destruction, devoted, soul and heart, unto thee. Oh! fruitlesss is my asceticism and wifely virtue! Oh fie on me! I shall renounce this nry unfortunate life. I desire to do away speedily with my being by means of poison orasharp weapon. But there is no one in this city of the Rakshasas, who bringeth me this poison or weapon.” Bewailing thus in various aecents, and remembering Rama with all her heart, Sita, having her countenance dried up, and trembling, got at the biggest tree enveloped with flowers. And thinking thus, Sita, stricken with grief, took up in her hand, her braid of hair and thought—“I shall soon hang myself with this braid and reach the abode of Death. And that one of tender person reached the tree, and holding a branch, began to think of Rama, Lakshmana, and the glory ‘ of her race. And on her person were perceived many auspicious marks, well-known in the world, removing grief, fostering patience, and announcing the advent of future welfare.