Passage 4

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In plain words

Hearing her words, Lakṣmaṇa felt a joy he could not contain. “Can there really be wives in the world with so great a spirit of sacrifice?” he marvelled.

When Lakṣmaṇa fell senseless in the battle, Hanumān uprooted the mountain where the sañjīvanī herb grew and, holding it, went through the sky over Nandigrāma. Bharata saw him, took him for some demon, and shot arrows at him. At once Hanumān fell to the ground, mountain and all. He bowed to Bharata and told him that Lakṣmaṇa had fallen senseless in the battle, and that he was taking the sañjīvanī herb to bring him back to life. Hearing the news that Lakṣmaṇa had fallen senseless, Kausalyā grieved. But Sumitrā was not troubled in the least. “Lakṣmaṇa went for the service of Rāma. So no harm of any kind can come to him,” she said. Giving courage to Kausalyā, who was sunk in grief: “Sister! This is no matter for you to grieve over. No harm of any kind can come to Rāma. Lakṣmaṇa is there to help Rāma, is he not? If Lakṣmaṇa should close his eyes for ever, I shall send my second son, Śatrughna, to serve Rāma,” she said. Could any mother take on so great a sacrifice?

Hanumān, to Ūrmilā: “Mother! Rāma regards Lakṣmaṇa as His second body, His second life. Because such a Lakṣmaṇa has fallen senseless, Rāma is grieving deeply,” he told her. Then Ūrmilā burst out laughing: “Hanumān! No one in this world can know the truth of Śrī Rāma, or the nature of my husband Lakṣmaṇa. Rāma is the Paramātma Himself. He has no need to grieve. All this is only His play, His drama. And as for my husband Lakṣmaṇa, every atom, every particle of his body is filled with the Name of Rāma alone. So no harm of any kind can come to him. In truth, that is no swoon. He is sleeping, comfortably and peacefully,” she said. She told Hanumān to set out without a moment’s more delay. ‘I am the daughter of King Janaka, the daughter-in-law of King Daśaratha, the wife of Lakṣmaṇa.