Hanuman in his final bid to convince Sita that he was no impostor but a Vanara and messenger of Rama humbly said "Here is the ring with Rama's name on it, my lady. It was given to me by Rama, as ultimate proof of my identity." Holding it tenderly Sita's eyes lit up and her face losing its pallor shone like the moon, freed from the shadows of Rahu. Rapturous and trembling, she felt that she was touching the very hand that had sent it. Lauding Hanuman she said, "Undeterred by fear and braving the billowing crocodile infested ocean, which bows to no monarch, you have come flying over a hundred yojanas. You are no ordinary monkey but an extraordinary one! How can you otherwise be neither awed nor afraid of Ravana, the terror of every creature? The very fact that Rama has chosen to send you is proof of your superb ability. Is Rama, furious at my abduction burning down the earth with the fire of that fury?" Sita asked, why Rama who could vanquish even the devatas, remained silent about her abduction. She also wondered aloud whether he grieved for her, "Tell me Hanuman does my absence bring tears to Rama's eyes and does that sorrow rob his face of its lustre? Does he seek the alliance of warrior chiefs for vengeful strife to free me? I shall die if Rama is not here soon." Hanuman trying to console her said that Rama who was unaware of her whereabouts would come the moment he knew where she was. He assured Sita that stilling the very waves of the ocean Rama would reach the land of the rakshasas to wreck havoc on Lanka, destroying its ruler, his kin and his friends. "You will soon behold Rama whose thoughts of you never leave him neither during dreary days nor during dark nights. Every fruit, flower and all things beautiful remind him of you and renew his sorrow. He partakes of neither meat nor honey but lives on one meal a day, forest fare fit for ascetics. Immersed in thoughts of you he does not even brush away the insects nor snakes that crawl around him. His restless mind finds no solace without you. He wakes and weeps but does not even sleep and when he rarely succumbs to it he dreams of you perhaps for his lips murmur your name! There are no words adequate enough to describe Rama's anguish at your disappearance. He grieves for you endlessly and that grief burns him like the flames of a fire." News of Rama brought joy to Sita, but news of his travails also brought her anguish. With the clash of those emotions her face was shadowed like the autumnal moon listlessly drifting in and out of the clouds. She asked Hanuman, "does Rama who displayed neither sorrow nor cowardice when he left his crown and kingdom grieve for me now? Tormented by my separation has Rama's face lost its golden radiance, to resemble a wilted lotus in a dry pond?"
Summary
Hanuman in his final bid to convince Sita that he was no impostor but a Vanara and messenger of Rama humbly said "Here is the ring with Rama's name on it, my lady. It was given to me by Rama, as ultimate proof of my identity." Holding it tenderly Sita's eyes lit up and her face losing its pallor shone like the moon, freed from the shadows of Rahu. Rapturous and trembling, she felt that she was touching the very hand that had sent it. Lauding Hanuman she said, "Undeterred by fear and braving the billowing crocodile infested ocean, which bows to no monarch, you have come flying over a hundred yojanas. You are no ordinary monkey but an extraordinary one! How can you otherwise be neither awed nor afraid of Ravana, the terror of every creature? The very fact that Rama has chosen to send you is proof of your superb ability. Is Rama, furious at my abduction burning down the earth with the fire of that fury?" Sita asked, why Rama who could vanquish even the devatas, remained silent about her abduction. She also wondered aloud whether he grieved for her, "Tell me Hanuman does my absence bring tears to Rama's eyes and does that sorrow rob his face of its lustre? Does he seek the alliance of warrior chiefs for vengeful strife to free me? I shall die if Rama is not here soon." Hanuman trying to console her said that Rama who was unaware of her whereabouts would come the moment he knew where she was. He assured Sita that stilling the very waves of the ocean Rama would reach the land of the rakshasas to wreck havoc on Lanka, destroying its ruler, his kin and his friends. "You will soon behold Rama whose thoughts of you never leave him neither during dreary days nor during dark nights. Every fruit, flower and all things beautiful remind him of you and renew his sorrow. He partakes of neither meat nor honey but lives on one meal a day, forest fare fit for ascetics. Immersed in thoughts of you he does not even brush away the insects nor snakes that crawl around him. His restless mind finds no solace without you. He wakes and weeps but does not even sleep and when he rarely succumbs to it he dreams of you perhaps for his lips murmur your name! There are no words adequate enough to describe Rama's anguish at your disappearance. He grieves for you endlessly and that grief burns him like the flames of a fire." News of Rama brought joy to Sita, but news of his travails also brought her anguish. With the clash of those emotions her face was shadowed like the autumnal moon listlessly drifting in and out of the clouds. She asked Hanuman, "does Rama who displayed neither sorrow nor cowardice when he left his crown and kingdom grieve for me now? Tormented by my separation has Rama's face lost its golden radiance, to resemble a wilted lotus in a dry pond?"