________________
RAMA'S EMANCIPATION
341
got up, bowed to Jayabhuṣaṇa, approached Sită, and Teflected: "How will my wife Sita, a princess whose body is as soft as a sirişa, endure the discomfort of heat and cold? How will she bear the load of self-control, which exceeds all loads, difficult to bear even in the heart? Or rather, she, whose wifely fidelity Rāvana was not able to destroy, will observe her vow for self-control also in the same way." With these reflections, the elder brother of Lakṣmaṇa paid homage to Vaidehi; and Lakṣmaṇa and the other kings, their minds purified by faith, also did so.
Sita's death (94-96)
Now Rama returned to Ayodhya with his retinue; and Sita and Kṛtāntavadana practiced severe penance. After he had performed penance Kṛtāntavadana went to Brahmaloka and Sītā performed various penances for sixty years. At the end she fasted for thirty-three days and nights, died, and was born the Indra Acyuta with a life-term of twenty-two sägaras.
Initiation of Lakṣmaṇa's sons (97-105)
Now there was a king of Vidyadharas, Kanakaratha by name, in the city Kañcanapura, on Mt. Vaitāḍhya. He invited kings, Rama, Lakṣmaṇa, and others with their sons to the svayamvara of his daughters, Mandakini and Candramukhi. From the kings seated there Anangalavana was chosen by Mandakini and Ankuśa by Candramukhi of their own accord. Lakṣmaṇa's sons, all the two hundred and fifty, Sridhara and the others, got up at the same time to fight from anger. Hearing that they were arming themselves, Lavana and Ankuśa said: "Who will fight with them? Brothers must not be killed (by each other). As there was no quarrel of the fathers, elder and younger, just so may there not be any between their sons, us and them."
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
