Recovering himself the king got up and sat down. “Tell me, Sumantra, where is my gracious RŒma? Where is Lakƒma˜a and where my loving RŒma? Where is my beloved daughter-in-law, Vaideh¶?” The restless monarch wailed in many ways; the night seemed to him like an age and he felt as though it would never end. He was reminded of the blind hermit’s curse and he narrated the whole story to KausalyŒ. He was filled with agony as he related the circumstances*. “Fie on the hope of surviving without RŒma. What shall I gain day, when DaÜaratha was still young, he was out hunting and rode to the bank of the Sarayµu in search of game. The sun had set and the king heard at a distance what he believed to be the trumpeting of a wild elephant. The king, who was expert at hitting an invisible mark by its sound, discharged an arrow and lo! it struck a young hermit, Ýrava˜a by name, who had been filling a pitcher for the use of his blind and aged parents. The king discovered to his great chagrin that what he had mistaken for the trumpeting of an elephant had been the gurgling sound caused by the filling of the pitcher. The hermit did not mind his own death; but he was worried about his helpless parents, who wholly depended on him. He therefore, implored the king to carry the water to the hermitage and inform his parents of what had happened to their son. With these dying words the hermit breathed his last and the king did as he was bid by the young anchorite. Ýrava˜a’s parents, when they heard of his sad fate, begged the king to conduct them to the place where their son was and in their excessive agony pronounced a curse on the king that he too would die of grief for the loss of a son. It is of this incident that the king is reminded at the hour of his death. by preserving this body, which has failed to keep my vow of love? O delighter of Raghus, who are dear to me as life, already I have lived too long without you. Ah, Janaka’s daughter and Lakƒma˜a, Ah, Chief of Raghu’s line, who gladdened the loving heart of your father as a rain-cloud delights the CŒtaka bird.” (1—4)