Chapter Four — The Ocean of Rasa

Sevantyo ’har-ahaḥ prītyā sasītaṃ Raghunandanam,
Rāseśvaraṃ nirīkṣanti sad-bhaktyā bhakta-vatsalam. (49)

Serving Sita and Raghunandana lovingly day after day, the companions gazed with pure devotion upon the Lord of the rāsa, who is ever tender toward his devotees.

Hanuman now turns inward and addresses his own mind: “O mind, bathe in the ocean of Sita and Rama’s rāsa.”

Rāsārṇave sukha-jale cāru-prema-taraṅgair aṅkite,
Strī-ratnānāṃ hetor majja mano Rāmacandrasya rāse. (50)

O my mind, plunge into Ramachandra’s rāsa: an ocean whose waters are bliss, beautifully marked by waves of love, and cherished for the jewel-like women who move within it.

Sarasa-nikāse prema-jalaiḥ paripūrṇe svarṇāṅgyāḥ,
Vikasitānana-kamalaṃ pibati yatra madhuvrato Rāmaḥ. (51)

There, in the fountainhead of rasa, filled with the waters of love flowing from women whose limbs shine like gold, Rama becomes a honeybee drinking deeply from their blossoming lotus faces.

Rāmo rasika-śaśivadano vilasann atirata-śrānta-cetā vai,
Dalitāṃ Janakajā-sadane tatra kim u nirañjano vibhāti sma. (52, continues)

In Janaka’s daughter’s palace, moon-faced Rama—the stainless connoisseur of love—sportingly shone, his heart delightfully wearied by the intensity of their loving play. Who could describe the incomparable splendour revealed there?