The real self-interest of every living creature lies in cultivating devotion to the feet of Rama in thought and word and deed. That body is the holiest, that the comeliest, in which one is able to worship Raghubira.

If a man be hostile to Rama, though he acquire a body as exalted as that of Brahma, no poet or scholar will praise him. Devotion to Rama first took root in my heart in this bodily form, and on that account, my master, I hold it supremely dear.

Though my death depends on my own will, yet I refuse to quit his body, for, as the Vedas say, adoration of the Lord is not possible without a corporeal frame. In former days infatuation led me greatly astray; so long as I resisted Rama I never had a restful sleep.

Throughout my various births I practised different courses of action, essaying austerity, prayer, penance, sacrifice and charity; what womb is there in the world, O king of birds, in which I was not born during my round of births?

I have had experience of all kinds of pursuits, my lord, but was never so happy as I am now. I still recollect many of my former lives, my lord, for by Shiva’s grace infatuation never clouded my understanding.

Listen, O king of birds, while I now tell you the story of my very first birth (within my memory), hearing which will give rise to love for the Lord’s feet, which is the remedy for all afflictions.

In a former aeon, my lord, there was an age, the Kaliyuga, the hotbed of sin, in which men and women were all steeped in unrighteousness and acted contrary to Vedic doctrine.