66697602-The-Ramayana-R-K-Narayan

13
INTERLUDE
To Link Up the Narrative, an Extract from “Valmiki” 12
After the death of Ravana, Rama sent Hanuman as his
emissary to fetch Sita. Sita was overjoyed. She had been in
a state of mourning all along, completely neglectful of her
dress and appearance, and she immediately rose to go out
and meet Rama as she was. But Hanuman explained that it
was Rama’s express wish that she should dress and
decorate herself before coming to his presence.
A large crowd pressed around Rama. When Sita eagerly
arrived, after her months of loneliness and suffering, she was
received by her husband in full view of a vast public. She felt
awkward but accepted this with resignation. But what she
could not understand was why her lord seemed preoccupied
and moody and cold. However, she prostrated herself at his
feet, and then stood a little away from him, sensing some
strange barrier between herself and him.
Rama remained brooding for a while and suddenly said,
“My task is done. I have now freed you. I have fulfilled my
mission. All this effort has been not to attain personal
satisfaction for you or me. It was to vindicate the honour of
the Ikshvahu race and to honour our ancestors’ codes and