Page:History of Bengali Language and Literature.djvu/211

 ; JV.) BENGALI LANGUAGE & LITERATURE. 181 and his rich apparel, dismisses the state-carriage that brought him here, waives aside the royal um- brella and with a firmness of purpose which is dig- nity itself, he puts on the bark of a tree, turns an ascetic, and leaves the palace. His half brother Laksmana and the beautiful princess Sita, of whose Laksman and Sita fair f he Sun an ; 3 ace even t d Moon were scarcely follawehinn hitherto allowed to have a peep, follow him. This daughter of the pious and revered Janaka, the King of Mithila, can by no means be persuaded to live in the palace without her Lord; she throws away her jewels, and her tender feet, coloured with beautiful Alta, tread the bare earth with its thorny paths, while the people of Ajodhya lament wildly, as they see the royal couple, and the prince Laksmana leave the capital in such a sad_ plight. The old King Dagaratha is crushed to death under the heavy burden of sorrow. Bharata, son of Kaikeyi, comes to Ajodhya, and hears of the machi- nations of his mother only to be struck with grief. Followed by the loyal subjects of Avodhya, he over- takes Ram in the forest ; abandoning his own royal dress, he walks on foot and falls at his brother’s feet, begging him, with tears, to take the kingdom. But Ram _ will not accept this. Bharata, however, cannot be persuaded to return without Ram. Ram pre- vails upon him at last, giving him his sandals, which he carries on his head and places on the throne, pro- claiming. himself to be the regent of Ram’s_ shoes, and ruling the kingdom in that capacity. Ram _ rulesasthe - R nt of goes to the Dandakaranya groves, where the lofty ie peaks of Chitrakuta, the beautiful lake Pampa, the ৯০৪5 ‘silver streams of the Mandakini girdling the foot of Chitrakuta,— the manifold beauties of the picturesque
 * : : : Bharata