Sexual Life in Ancient India: A Study in the Comparative History of Indian Culture v2.c20.45.1

v2.c20.45.1

When this hero has overcome and slain Rāvaṇa, and dedicated Vibhīṣaṇa in Laṅkā as king, the Rākṣhasa minister Avindhya brings Sītā to him, who with weeping eyes, pining, in black, filthy garb, her hair plaited in the fashion of mourners,¹ gazes on him. But he speaks and says : “Go, princess of Videha, I have restored² thee ; that which was to be done I have done. I have slain that spirit of the night, for I thought : ‘After having won me for a husband, thou shalt not enter into old age in the house of the Rākṣhasas. How could ever one like me, one that knows the decision of things of law, keep even for a moment a woman that had fallen into the hands of another ? Be thy way of life pure or not, I cannot have thee any more for the joys of love, since thou art like unto a sacrificial offering polluted by a dog.’ Then did the young woman, the queen, when she heard these awful words, reeling in anguish, fall suddenly to the ground, like a banana-tree that is hewn down. And the redness brought to her countenance by joy vanished in an instant again, like breath on a looking-glass. When all the monkeys had now heard these words of Rāma, they stood like Lakṣhmaṇa, too, without stirring, almost robbed of life.” Sītā now takes a solemn oath : “In beings dwells the ever moving wind ; may he take life away from me, if I have done any evil. Let fire, water, ether, earth, and wind take my life, if I have done any evil.