Ayodhya Kaanda
82 - Sumantra returns to Ayodhya and finds the city a picture of grief
Chaupais
Description
In deep agony all the queens questioned him; but no reply came from him, his voice failed him. His ears could not hear, nor could his eyes see; he asked whomsoever he met: "Tell me, where is the king?" Seeing his confusion, the maid-servants conducted him to Kausalya's apartments. Arriving there Sumantra found the king as pale and lustreless as the moon without nectar. Without a seat, couch or ornaments he lay on the ground in a most wretched condition. Heaving a sigh he lamented even as Yayati* when he had fallen from the abode of gods. With his heart bursting with grief every moment, he looked like Sampati† who had dropped from the heavens on account of his wings having been singed. That great lover of Rama cried "Rama, Rama" and again "Rama, Laksmana and Sita.