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122
SETUBANDHA clearly. Believe me. To whom is the destruction of his race dear?
124. 'Rise. Give up thy sorrow. Wipe thy bosom soiled with tears. Hearken. The shedding of tears is inauspicious when one's consort confronts a battle.
125. 'Excluding Rāma, who else hath confined Rāvana within the walls (of Lankā), bereft of lustre, with sweat dripping form his face on account of shame?
126. Soon will Rāma loosen thy braid, with the tresses softened by his perspiring44 hands, and the curls45 ruffled and raised by his trembling fingers.
127. 'I am aggrieved not so much on thy account as at the changed character of Rāvana, thus acting meanly, without shame, while Rāma is alive.
128. "Think not that the power of Rama's arms counts for little. Its efficacy was seen in the slaying of Välin. On account of it, the ocean, driven by his arrows, hath granted a land-track across its waters.46 On account of it, Lankā is besieged.
129. 'I have seen thee in a dream, riding on an elephant of the gods, with the fringes of thy white scarf shaken by the flappings of its ears; while thy joyful figure shone in contact with the sun and the moon.
130. 'I have also seen Rāvana, with his heads, partly adhering to the body, but disjoined and fallen, while being dragged by the god of death with a stout halter, with the trail of the ten heads clearly visible, one after the other.
131. 'So take heart. Let all this inauspicious behaviour47 now cease. Let the illusion vanish, ignored and futile, and empty because the truth is known.
132. Had it been Rāma's head, it would have returned to life even in such a plight, having obtained the familiar touch of thy hands, sweet as nectar.'
44. Lit. moist. 45. Lit. the uneven parts. 46. Ref. to the causeway. 47. i.e. weeping.
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