महावीरचरितम् (महाकवि भवभूति - वीररस-प्रधान रामकथा नाटक सम्पूर्ण ७ अङ्क सटीक)

Introduction [liv
18, O.—The epic should naturally end here; but there is one more book
or kāṇḍa, dealing with the history of Rāma from his coronation to his
death. Here we are told how a few months after the coronation rumours
regarding Sītā began to be circulated amongst the people, who did not like
that Rāma should have received his wife back after she had been nearly
a year in the house of Rāvaṇa. Through his spies Rāma comes to know of
this, and resolves to abandon Sītā, although at this time she was in a state
of advanced pregnancy. Rāma charges his brother Lakshmaṇa with the
carrying out of this plan. Lakshmaṇa obeys, places Sītā in a chariot,
takes her into a forest on the other side of the Ganges, and there leaves
her, after communicating to her the actual state of things. Thereupon
Sītā sends back to Rāma a spirited reply¹ and patiently succumbs to the
inevitable. In her forlorn condition she fortunately chances upon the
saint Vālmīki, whose hermitage was near by. Vālmīki receives the exiled
queen under his protection. In his hermitage she gives birth to twin sons,
Kuśa and Lava, whom Vālmīki brings up and educates along with his
other pupils.
18, P.—Meanwhile in Ayodhyā Rāma is not at peace. From a mere
sense of duty he discharges his manifold functions as a king, but is always
haunted by the image of her whom he had treated so unjustly. Years go
by, and at last he resolves to perform a horse-sacrifice.² For the festivities
attending the completion of the sacrifice there came Vālmīki bringing with
him the twins, Kuśa and Lava, whom he had taught to sing the Rāmāyaṇa,
a panegyric poem on Rāma which Vālmīki had composed. With great
applause the boys recite the poem in the presence of Rāma and the whole
assembly. Rāma inquires about the boys and is pleasantly surprised to
learn from Vālmīki that they are Rāma’s own sons. Understanding that
Sītā is still alive, he sends for her. Sītā comes. Rāma asks her to give
further evidence of her innocence and purity. ‘If it is true’, exclaims
Sītā, ‘that in mind and deed and word I have never been unfaithful to
Rāma, may Mother Earth receive me into her bosom!’ Just as she utters
these words the Earth gapes open and a divine form stretches forth her
hands to Sītā, who enters the abyss and there finds eternal rest.

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¹ This (vii. 48) is one of the most touching passages in the epic. Even Kālidāsa’s Raghu, xiv. 59–68, is but a faint echo of it.
² Only kings of eminence could aspire to perform the horse-sacrifice. In this sacrifice a horse is let loose, and a guard of three hundred follows his track. Should any one hinder the horse’s progress, he has to fight. When the horse completes a victorious circuit of the earth and returns to the capital, he is offered as a sacrifice, and the sacrificing king thereupon assumes the title of Sovereign Emperor.