Still wearing the crown of eternal youth and beauty, Sita now appears before Rama, in whose presence she implores the earth to open and receive her, thus proving that she has ever been true to her marriage vows and saving her from further suffering.  A moment later the king and his court see the earth heave and open, and behold the goddess of the earth, who, taking Sita by the hand, announces she is about to convey her to realms of eternal bliss.  Then Sita and the goddess disappear, the earth closes once more, and the gods chant the praises of the faithful wife, showering flowers upon Rama, who grovels on the ground in his agony.  A broken-hearted man, he then returns to his palace with his two sons, the first to sing this poem, whose verses are so sacred that those who listen to a few of them are forgiven many sins, while those who hear the whole epic are sure to achieve Paradise.

                   He shall be
  From every sin and blemish free: 
  Whoever reads the saving strain,
  With all his kin the heavens shall gain.

Because the poem is so sacred, its author enjoined upon the youths to recite it often, a task they faithfully performed as long as they lived, and which other bards have continued until to-day in all parts of India.

Recite ye this heroic song
In tranquil shades where sages throng;
Recite it where the good resort,
In lowly home and royal court.

We are told besides that—­

  As long as mountain ranges stand
  And rivers flow upon the earth,
  So long will this Ramayana
  Survive upon the lips of men.

Rama is finally visited by the God of Time, who offers him the choice of remaining on earth or returning to heaven.  When he wisely choses the latter alternative, Rama is bidden bathe in sacred waters, and thence is translated to the better world.

From this poem Tulsi Das has composed a play known as the “Ram Charit Manas,” which serves as Bible to a hundred million worshippers in northern India, and is always played at the yearly festivals in the presence of countless admirers.

FOOTNOTES: 

[Footnote 41:  The quotations in this chapter are taken from Griffeth’s translation and from Romesh Dutt’s.]

THE MAHABHARATA

The longest poem in existence is composed in Sanscrit, and, although begun before the Ramayana, it was completed only about one hundred years after.  It consists of some two hundred and twenty thousand lines, divided into eighteen sections (parvans), each of which forms a large volume.  Although the whole work has never been translated into English verse, many portions of it have been reproduced both in verse and prose.