May you be as dear to your lord as Parvati to Shiva; yet cease not to be gracious unto us, O good lady! Again and again we pray with folded hands: should you return by this same route,

- allow us, your handmaids, to see you once more.’ Sita found them all athirst for love and comforted them with many soothing word, even as the lilies are comforted by the moonlight.

Presently Lakshmana, reading Rama’s thoughts, gently asked the villagers the way they should take. At this words the villagers, both men and women, became sad; a thrill ran through their bodies and tears rushed to their eyes.

Their joy disappeared, and they felt depressed at heart as though God was snatching back the treasure he had bestowed upon them. Then, reflecting on the way of fate, they took courage, and deciding on the easiest road, pointed it out to them.

Accompanied by Lakshmana and Janaki, Raghunatha then went on his way, dismissing them all with soothing words, though he took their hearts with him.

As they returned home, the villagers, men and women alike, grievously lamented and blamed providence in their hearts. In doleful accents they said to one another, ‘The Creator’s doings are all perverse!

He is absolutely uncontrolled, heartless and remorseless. It is he who made the moon sickly (subject to periodical waning) and disfigured it with a dark patch. Again, it is he who made the wish-yielding tree a member of the vegetable kingdom and the ocean salt.