THE RÁMÁYAN OF VÁLMÍKI, VOL. III - Gujarat Knowledge Centre

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CANTO vir.
SUTIKSHN'A.
So Ragbu's son, his foemen's dread,
With Sfta and his brother sped,
Girt round by many a twice-born sage,
To good Sutikshna's hermitage.'
Through woods for many a league he passed,
O'er rushing rivers full and fast,
Until a mountain fair and bright
As lofty Meru rose in sight.
Within its belt of varied wood
Ikshvaku's sons and Sita stood,
Where trees of every foliage bore
Blossom and fruit in endless store.
There coats of bark, like garlands strung,
Before a lonely cottage hung.
And there a hermit, dust'besmeared,
A lotus on his breast, appeared.
Then Rama with obeisance due
Addressed the sage, as near he drew
• My
natne is Rama, lord ; I seek
Thy presence, saint, with thee to speak.
O sage, whose merits ne'er decay.
Some word unto thy servant say.'
The sage his eyes on R^ma bent.
Of virtue's friends preeminent
Then words like these he spoke, and pressed
' Near the celebrated Rimagiri or RfCma's Hill, now Riim-tek, near
Nagpore—the sceue of the Yaksha's exile in the Messenger Cloud.