Chapter 15: Return to Ayodhya

After getting back the original Sita from Agni, Ramacandra said, "Nowwe must go to Ayodhya." There was a big pushpa-bhimam, which flewnot by steering but by mind, mental instruction. So they all got onthe pushpa-bhimam, along with a few leading monkeys. Then the othermonkeys said, "Well we're not going by this bridge and walking allthe way to Kishkinda. We will also go by flight." So Ramacandratold the pushpa-bhimam, "You expand." So it expanded and took allthe Vanaras in it. They all took a flight. While they were going,Ramacandra was showing Sita, "This is Janasthan where I fought with14,000 rakshasas and killed them with one arrow. This is Pancavati.This is the Dandakaranya forest. This is Kishkinda." They had astopover in Kishkinda, and then they took Sugriva's family also.They all got in the pushpa-bhimam. Then they were flying overBharadvaja ashrama's. All the places where they visited Ramacandrawas showing to Sita. "Do you remember this place? Do you rememberthat place?" In this way they were coming to Ayodhya. In themeantime Hanuman told Ramacandra, "We have to go fast, otherwisetomorrow sunrise, Bharata will jump in the fire. It is fourteenyears already." Ramacandra told Hanuman, "You go before us." SoHanuman flew very fast and jumped in front of Bharata. By that timeit was sunrise already, and Bharata was circumambulating the fire andpreparing to jump into it. He went once, twice round. On theseventh round he would get into the fire. When he completed thesecond round he heard the sound, "Rama is coming! Rama is coming!"He was looked up, and he said, "Where is Rama coming?" Then he wentaround again. The third round he saw this figure jumping in front ofhim, a big tail and a club on his shoulder with a crown and so manyornaments on his chest. Bharata looked at him and said, "Who areyou?" He said, "I am Hanuman, the servant of Rama." Bharata said,"What? I think that by fasting too much, I am having somehallucination." So he asked everybody el se, "Do you also see thismonkey?" They said, "Yes we see him." So then Hanuman jumped up ona tree, and he began to speak Ramayana. How everything happened, andhe shortly summarized the whole thing. When Bharata heard this hewas very happy. And then the pushpa-bhimam came. So all thecitizens of Ayodhya, because of Hanuman's prior information, theywere able to receive Ramacandra properly. Bharata took Him to thesimhasana, and said, "Here are your shoes. Now I hand this countryback to you. You will be king." And then there was a coronationceremony. At this ceremony, everyone was given some gift.Ramacandra was giving, Sita was giving. Hanuman was very happyseeing that so many people are coming and getting something andgoing. He was in ecstasy and he was chanting and dancing andjumping. So then Sitadevi felt very merciful, and she called him."Hanuman, nobody gave you anything. Here, take this necklace." Andshe gave him a pearl necklace which she was wearing. Hanuman brokethe pearls and started eating them. All the saintly people in theassembly were saying, "What is this monkey doing with Sitadevi'snecklace?" They were all murmuring amongst themselves. "Ramacandrawent to the forest, but why is He bringing the forest into the city?And what is he doing with the queen's necklace? He is insulting thekingdom." Ramacandra said, "Hanuman, they are all having someconfusion over you." Hanuman said, "What is the confusion?"Ramacandra said, "Well, they are all saying that you don't thinkabout Me so much, you do not value me so much." Hanuman said, "Thenwhat should I do?" Ramacandra said, "You show them how nicely youvalue Me, and how you are respecting Me." Hanuman said, "If that isYour order I will do it." So then he put his hands on his chest andopened his body, and showed his heart. In his heart was acourt-hall, and there was Ramacandra and Sita, and in front of themwas Hanuman, and he was opening his chest, and inside the c ndra,Sita, Laksmana, Bharata, Satrughna and Hanuman. And Hanuman wasopening his chest. In this way they had an unlimited vision of Ramabhakti, and they were all convinced. The coronation was over, andthen everyone did some service. Everyone, because He had not beenthere for fourteen years. So thousands of people were waiting toserve Ramacandra, and Hanuman was thinking, "What do I do all dayhere in Ayodhya?" He was walking and telling people about Ramayana,but he got bored. He came to Mother Sita and said, "Let's go to theforest again. This is nice, but I want some personal service ofRamacandra. I'm getting bored here." So Sitadevi called the palacemanager and said, "Any service?" He said, "No, there is a waitinglist of people waiting to take service." Hanuman said, "You havebrought me here for what? If I cannot serve Rama, then what is themeaning of my sitting here? You must get me some service. I'mdepending on you." So he was given the service of waking up Rama inthe morning, and he was happy. Another day, Hanuman went toSitadevi's house, and he said, "Mataji, I'm very hungry. Please giveme something." She said, "I am putting sindhu on my hair. Pleasewait, and I will give you something." Hanuman said, "Oh, I can'twait. I'm very hungry." "No-one can be that hungry," she said."You just wait." "No mataji, I'm so hungry I could die. I need somefruit." She said, "Just wait until I have finished putting this inmy hair." Then Hanuman looked at her and said, "Why do you this?Why are you putting this red stuff on your hair?" She said, "Youknow why I do this? Because if I do it then Ramacandra will behappy, and he will live long, and he will have great opulence. Allthese things will happen." Hanuman said, "Oh," and then he left.Quickly Sita finished, and got the fruits together. She called out,"Hanuman! Hanuman! Where are you?" Hanuman was not to be found."But he was so hungry." She clapped h . They all went, but theycouldn't find him. Then two minutes later, some figure enteredSita's room. It was completely red. She looked, and it had theshape of a monkey, you couldn't see the face, the nose, chadar,dhoti, anything. He was completely red. He had taken bath in red.She said, "Who are you?" He said, "I am Hanuman." "What did youdo?" "I covered my whole body with sindhu. You said that if youonly colour this much, then Rama will get happy and prosperous, so Icover my whole body and he will get more." That is why when you seeHanuman deity it is all red, because he puts sindhu all over hisbody. The mataji only put it one place, but he took bath in sindhu.That was how much love and affection Hanuman had for Ramacandra. Soin this way they were living very happily in Ayodhya till Sitadevigot pregnant. She had a desire to go to the forest, because sheliked the forest so much. Wildflowers, bumble-bees, deer andpeacocks. So she had this desire, "I should go to the forest again."So one day she told Ramacandra, "Can we go to the forest again?"Ramacandra said, "Why the forest? No-one is giving any delegation."She said, "I like the forest." He said, "All right, I will takeyou." Every evening, Rama and Laksmana would dress up like ordinarycitizens and go around Ayodhya. Who is doing what, who is sayingwhat, they will check it. They were feeling the pulse of thecitizens, seeing if they liked them or if there is some enemy, a veryimportant job. Ramacandra and Laksmana were going around like that.They heard a big scene in a colony, a small colony. Dhobis wereliving there. So they hid and saw what was going on. There was alady being kicked by her husband and she was crying. She was holdinghis feet and saying, "Do anything, but don't send me out of thehouse." He said, "No! You are not qualified to enter this house.You can go away, I don't like you." So then she was calling all thevillagers. "Please help me. What did I " So they all came forjudgement, and the husband said, "No judgement! I am husband, she iswife. I decide what she does, and she is not coming in this houseany more. She can go." Then some elder people came and said, "Whatare you doing? This is very bad. She is not a bad woman, she likesyou and wants to serve you. Why are you kicking her away?" He said,"You are saying all this, but if your wives did the same thing, youwouldn't be even standing and talking, you would have finished her.""What did she do?" they asked. He said, "This lady went to washcloth, and she never came back. Three days later she came. I askedher what happened, she is saying, `Somebody came and said that myfather was sick, so I had to go. I was only in my father's house."They said, "So what is the problem? She was only in her father'shouse." He said, "How do I know? She may have gone anywhere. Sheis not pure, I am not taking her." They said, "No, you must takeher. She is crying, she is very affectionate for you." He said, "Doyou think I am Lord Ramacandra, that after keeping my wife in someoneelse's house I will take her back? I'm not as cheap as Lord Rama."Ramacandra heard this, and he looked at Laksmana. Laksmana pretendedthat he hadn't heard this, and he was looking away. He didn't wantany more scenes. When they came back they were very silent anddidn't discuss anything. Ramacandra didn't take any prasad thatnight. Then he called Laksmana and said, "Tomorrow morning, just atthe time of sunrise, you take Sita and you drop her in the forest."Early in the morning, Laksmana's chariot came, and he knocked on thedoor. Sita was thinking, "It must be Ramacandra." She said, "Who isit?" "Laksmana," came the answer. "What is the news Laksmana?" sheasked. He said, "Ramacandra has told me to take you to the forest.""Jaya!" she said. She had wanted to go to the forest, and shethought that Ramacandra was now sending her with Laksmana. So shewent and ut. Laksmana saw her and told her, "Ramacandra said you arenot taking anything." She said, "What about those cosmetics?" "No.Nothing. Just get on the chariot." "I can't take anything at all?"she asked. "Nature will provide you everything," he said. He was actually worrying and pining in his heart, but he could not say anything. She happily got on the chariot, and they went. They crossed the Tamasa river, and they came to the banks of the Ganges. Laksmana said, "You get down." She got down, and Laksmana took the reins. She said, "Hey, where are you going?" He said, "I am leaving you in the forest." "You are leaving me like this in the forest, in this place? There is nobody here!" "Yes," he said. "You are banished to the forest. Your husband, my brother has banished you to the forest because of the dhobi's criticism." He couldn't stand there any more. Quickly he drove the chariot, and disappeared. Sita started crying, she fell on the ground and became unconscious. Two brahmacaris were coming from Valmiki's ashrama to gather some firewood in that area, and they saw this queen lying there. They ran back to the ashrama and told Valmiki. "There is a queen there, she is pregnant and unconscious." So Valmiki knew who that was. He came up to her, and told her, "You stay in my ashrama and deliver the children there. I promise you, somehow I will make compromise between you and Lord Ramacandra." She stayed in the ashrama.