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## The Ninety-ninth Chapter
23,
While meditating on Sita, who was in great distress, Rama fainted again and was brought back to consciousness with great difficulty. ||3||
In the meantime, Lakshmana arrived and, touching Rama, who was filled with sorrow, said, "O Lord, why are you so distressed? Be patient." ||8||
This is the fruit of past karma, which has come to all beings, not just the royal lady. ||5||
Whatever sorrow or happiness one has to experience in this world, one receives it by oneself, without any external cause. ||6||
Even if a being is taken to the sky, or to a forest filled with wild animals, or to the top of a mountain, it is protected by its own merit. ||7||
O Lord, upon hearing the news of Sita's abandonment, even the most ordinary people in this land of Bharata felt sorrow in their hearts. ||8||
The people, tormented by sorrow and melting away on all sides, their hearts were breaking, as if they were pouring out tears. ||8||
Saying this, Lakshmana, deeply distressed, began to lament, his face as pale as a lotus petal struck by frost. ||10||
Alas, Sita! Your body is burning with the fire of the words of wicked people. You are the earth that gives birth to the grain of virtue, and you are filled with noble thoughts. ||11||
O Princess! Where have you gone? Your lotus feet were so delicate. You were the earth that supported the mountain of virtue. O Sita! You were so gentle and kind. ||12||
O Mother! See, the lotus, adorned with virtue and served by royal swans, is scorched on all sides by the snow of the words of wicked men. ||13||
O Excellent One! You were as virtuous as Subhadra, skilled in all conduct, and you were the embodiment of happiness for all beings. Where have you gone? ||14||
What is the sky without the sun, and what is the night without the moon? Similarly, what is Ayodhya without that jewel of a woman? ||15||
The commander-in-chief was distraught. ||2||
When the grim reaper stood silent, Rama, filled with immense sorrow, meditating on Sita, fainted again and was brought back to consciousness with great difficulty. ||3||