A Classical Dictionary of Hindu Mythology and Religion, Geography, History, and Literature c5.1476.4

c5.1476.4

The treatment which Sītā received in captivity was better than might have been expected at the hands of a Rākshasa. She had asserted and proved her purity, and Rāma believed her; but jealous thoughts would cross his sensitive mind, and when his subjects blamed him for taking back his wife, he resolved, although she was pregnant, to send her to spend the rest of her life at the hermitage of Vālmīki. There she was delivered of her twin sons Kusa and Lava, who bore upon their persons the marks of their high paternity. When they were about fifteen years old they wandered accidentally to Ayodhyā and were recognised by their father, who acknowledged them, and recalled Sītā to attest her innocence. She returned, and in a public assembly declared her purity, and called upon the earth to verify her words. It did so. The ground opened and received “the daughter of the furrow,” and Rāma lost his beloved and only wife. Unable to endure life without her, he resolved to follow, and the gods favoured his determination. Time appeared to him in the form of an ascetic and told him that he must stay on earth or ascend to heaven and rule over the gods. Lakshmana with devoted fraternal affection endeavoured to save his brother from what he deemed the baleful visit of Time. He incurred a sentence of death for his interference, and was conveyed bodily to Indra’s heaven.