My guru (Vasishtha), as all the world knows, is an ocean of wisdom, and the universe is like a plum in the hollow of his hand. He too is making preparations for my coronation; when Fate is adverse, everyone else turns hostile.

No one in the whole world, except Rama and Sita, will say that the scheme did not have my approval. All this I must hear and endure with a cheerful heart; for wherever there is water, there in the end is mud.

I fear not to think that the world will call me vile; I have little anxiety about the other world either. There is one terrible anguish that plagues my heart; it is that through me Sita and Rama have been rendered unhappy.

Lakshmana has fully reaped the reward of his existence; discarding everything else, he has fixed his mind on Rama’s feet. As for myself, I was born to banish Rama to the forest – but in vain do I lament, wretched that I am.

I bow my head before you all and declare my grievous misery; until I see Raghunatha’s feet the fever in my soul shall not abate.

This is the only remedy that I can think of; who else but Rama can know what passes in my heart? There is only one resolve in my mind: at daybreak I must proceed to meet the Lord.

Though I am a vile offender and am at the root of all this mischief, yet when the Lord finds me before him as a suppliant, he will forgive me all and shower his special grace on me.