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6
JAIN RAMAYAN
"Stop your improper talk! Stop this nonsense!" saying this, Sita at once closed her ears with her hands and screamed in utter agony. Her tender face reddened with anger. Her heart began to beat faster and she began breathing audibly.
"Oh! Can there be any comparison between your husband who is a cowardly jackal and my lord, Shri Ram who is a lion among men."
"Stop prattling. Your husband Ravan is a crow compared to my lord who is a royal swan. Your words are absolutely absurd. I think you are birds of the same feather. You have come here as a messenger and a mediator carrying the mean message of your husband who, maddened by sensuality, ignobly craves for the company of another man's wife. Are you not at all ashamed of this terrible sin you are committing? You are destroying sublime family-traditions by supporting ingobility and immorality. Your conduct is disgraceful. Fie upon you! At once, get away from here. It is a sin even to look at your face. Never show me your black and monstrous face again."
And Sita at once turned her face away from her.
Meanwhile, Ravan who had grown impatient since Mandodari had not returned, came straight to the Devaraman garden. When he overheard that conservation between Sita and Mandodari, he felt bitterly disappointed. He moved forward and said in a tone of deep agitation.
"Dear Sita! Do not get angry with Mandodari. She is your humble servant and you are the empress of the empire of Lanka and the heart of the mighty hero, Lankesh Ravan who has conquered the three worlds. I myself am a humble servant at your feet. Oh goddess, Sita! Kindly bestow at least a ray of your grace upon me, a mean and humble fellow. Kindly at least glance towards me with love and affection. Do you know how much I am distressed by my inability to secure your favour? Oh! you light my life! I yearn for your grace. I am yearning for at least one single blissful union with you."
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