Lanka Kaanda
177 - Sri Rama's sport of a frantic wail; Hanuman's return; Laksmana's coming back to consciousness
Chaupais
Description
Now, there on Suvela Sri Rama uttered words befitting a mortal as He looked at Laksmana, "Although it is now past midnight, Hanuman has not yet turned up!" Sri Rama raised His younger brother and clasped him to His bosom. "Brother, you could never bear to see me in distress, since your disposition has always been so tender. On my account you left both father and mother and exposed yourself to the cold, the heat and the winds of the forest. Where is that old love now, brother, that you refuse to get up even on hearing my lament? Had I known that I would lose my brother in the forest, I would never have obeyed even my father's command. Sons, riches, wives, houses and kinsfolk in this world repeatedly come and go; but a real brother cannot be had again in this world. Ponder this in your mind and arise, dear brother. As a bird is utterly miserable without wings, a serpent without its head-jewel and a noble elephant without its trunk, so is my life without you, brother, in case stupid fate compels me to survive. With what face shall I return to Ayodhya after sacrificing a beloved brother for the sake of my wife. I would rather have suffered obloquy in the world (for my inability to recover my wife); for after all the loss of a wife is not a serious loss. Now, however, my unfeeling and stony heart will endure both that obloquy and the deep anguish of your loss, my son. Your mother's only son, you are the sole prop of her life. Yet she took you by the hand and entrusted you to me, knowing that I would make you happy in everyway and that I am your greatest well-wisher. What answer shall I give her when I go back? Why should you not get up and advise me, brother?" Thus lamented the Dispeller of sorrow in diverse ways; and tears flowed from His eyes which resembled the petals of a lotus. Uma, (continues Lord Siva,) the Lord of the Raghus is one (without a second) and indivisible; He exhibited the ways of human being only because He is so compassionate to His devotees.