Chapter Seven: Literature of the Rasika Tradition

In the third canto, Sri Ramachandra is still considering how Jānaki’s anger might be pacified when Chandrakala arrives. In the fourth canto, Chandrakala pleads with Bhagavan Ramachandra on Jānaki’s behalf. In doing so, she gives a deeply moving portrayal of Jānaki’s exhausted heart, scorched by separation.

Ramachandra folds both hands and submits that this is the spring season and no proper time for Sita to remain offended. More than this: to dispel Jānaki’s māna, Ramachandra bows at her feet and pleases her in many ways.¹

By the fifth canto, the māna-līlā has been pacified. Seeing the Beloved Lady and her Beloved covered with dust, the companions propose water-play. Sita and Rama immerse themselves in many kinds of aquatic sport, with the other companions joining them. The water-play continues for a long while and is followed by a meal. Then the youthful king of Kosala sits happily upon a throne with the Divine Maiden.

The rāsa begins: a single Rama between each pair of companions, with Sita-Rama at the centre. Filled with the exhilaration of rāsa-rasa, the eternally bower-roaming Divine Maiden, clothed in celestial garments, looks upon the beloved of her life with a gently smiling, deeply relishable sidelong glance. The Beloved Lady and her Beloved repeatedly step out of the rāsa-maṇḍala to dance and then return to their proper places within the circle. The fifth canto ends here.

The sixth canto treats the rāsa-keli that follows the rāsa dance. Jānaki wears a sari the colour of the cloud-like radiance of Rama’s body, while Rama wears a dhotī the colour of the lightning-like radiance of Jānaki’s body. This canto also depicts the līlā of their intimate union. The Śrī Jānakī-gīta thus culminates in the union of the Divine Couple.²