The Three Travellers Enter Mandakini
Ayodhya Kanda, Doha 132
Doha 132 · Movement 2 of 2
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Valmiki sings the immeasurable glory of Chitrakoot until the mountain seems present within the hermitage through praise. Then instruction becomes journey.
Sita comes with the two brothers to the excellent river. Mandakini receives the forest travellers in the clear current drawn forth by an ascetic woman's power.
They descend and bathe. The long road from Ayodhya enters a new sacred geography where exile will become dwelling. Water closes around feet marked by dust, and the mountain praised by the sage rises nearby. In this brief immersion, departure gives way to arrival without ending the vow.
Sita, Ram, and Lakshmana enter Mandakini together, and the river washes the road into the beginning of a home.
Read the passage from the Manas
चित्रकूट महिमा अमित कहीं महामुनि गाइ। आए नहाए सरित बर सिय समेत दोउ भाइ।।132।।
The great sage sang of Chitrakoot's boundless glory. Then Siya, together with the two brothers, came and bathed in that excellent river.