________________
284
JAIN RAMAYAN
greatest weakness is his lust for beautiful women; so anything might have happened.”
“Dear lord. All this is what people are saying in Ayodhya I am only placing before you what people are saying about Sita. I have placed before you their thoughts and feelings for your information. When I heard this rumour for the first time I was stunned and stupefied. We were greatly agitated to hear this. We despised the scandal-mongers. We had nothing but contempt and abhorrence for them but the rumours have assumed the form of a cyclone in Ayodhya. Therefore we had a discussion and decided to place the matter before you.
Of course we are absolutely certain that these malicious rumours have no basis. They are merely ill-natured scandals. Rumours emanate from common people. Moreover this rumour is a collective one so we wonder why you should be agitated over these rumours. Why should your glory be stained ? What do they gain by staining the splendour of the royal dynasty ? Why should you stain the Royal traditions of your family by allowing the people to talk thus ? Oh! king what else can we
say?"
Whatever Vijayshreshti wanted to say he spoke out without pausing. He had disburdened himself of the weight that was pressing upon his mind and began to shudder with the fear that Shri Ram might become angry. They feared that some unexpected and untoward development might result from this since they had made bold to speak of the secrets of the harem. Shri Ram heard every word of Vijayshreshti with deep attention. When he heard it he experienced inordinate grief and agitation. There arose in his mind a tremendous commotion of impetuous thoughts and feelings: "What a terrible injustice to Sita ! How meanly are the common people calumniating her and staining her character ! Sita's character has become stained in the eyes of the people of Ayodhya.” Shri Ram was deeply agitated by these thoughts. His heart was filled with boundless grief. He writhed in agony. He retained his equanimity and then looking up towards the sky; in a serious voice, he said:
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
