query

[John Brockington]

on 21/1/02 11:17 pm, jkirk wrote:

> Dear Sirs/Mmes:
>
> I am rather in desperate need of, say, a Valmiki Ramayana equivalent
> chapters and verses to some sent to me by Prof Hart from the Kamparamayana
> having to do with Rama and Sita's first sight of one another.
> The citation given from that work  is 1.10.35.4#598.
>
> The lines translated are:
>
> As she who was of unimaginable beauty stood there like that,
> Their eyes snatched one another, and devoured one another,
> And, as their awareness united without ever stopping,
> The lord (Rama) looked (at her), and she looked (at him).
>
> Can anyone steer me to the comparable (if they exist) passages in a Valmiki
> Ramayana translation, with citation?  According to LC online, Robert P
> Goldman's translations include vols 1, 3.  Would the verses corresponding to
> those cited above appear in his vol.1?
>
> I live in an out of the way place where the local state U library is minus
> such works.  Sorry with such a simple question. I hope someone will advise
> me on this.
>
> Thanks,
> Joanna Kirkpatrick
> ===================================================


The short answer to your query is that the Valmiki Ramayana does not
describe any meeting between Rama and Sita before (or indeed immediately
after) the breaking of the bow by which Rama wins her.  Indeed, Sita herself
really does not figure at all in this episode.  Thus Kampan's description is
probably the first record of this motif that was to become so popular in
subsequent versions of the Ramayana.

Yours

John Brockington


Professor J. L. Brockington
Secretary General, International Association of Sanskrit Studies

Sanskrit, School of Asian Studies
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