Ramayan Part 37 - Preparation For Search Poem by Rajaram Ramachandran

The rainy season began,
Days and months ran,
Sugreeva was happy,
But Ram unhappy.

Ram spent days weary,
Waiting in a cave nearby,
As paths were flooded,
With torrents overflowed.

Ram was really restless,
Spent nights sleepless,
Irate from weariness,
Expressed his unhappiness.

What Sita was doing?
Where she was staying?
How she was suffering?
His mind was worrying.

After a long dreary privation,
Sugreeva, in his new position,
Drowned himself in enjoyment,
And spent days in merriment.

The rainy season was over,
And the sky became clear.
Life in forest began to resume,
With an odour of flowers’ perfume.

No sign of search for Sita,
From the side of Sugreeva,
Gave Ram mental pressure,
In turn, more displeasure,

Lakshman, as a messenger,
Was deputed by Ram there,
To pull him from his slumber,
The promise he gave, to remember.

Tara came in mediation,
Hanuman in negotiation,
Sugreeva in realization,
Lakshman in reconciliation.

The army of eight divisions,
Were sent in eight directions,
To comb nook and corner,
To trace Sita’s place sooner.

His ring to Hanuman,
Ram gave the right one,
As a mark of identification
For Sita’s satisfaction.

The entire army, in a month,
Except the one from south,
Reported back of “No Sita, ”
They found all over the area.

The army headed by Hanuman,
Searched all parts southern,
They couldn’t get any clue,
In which direction Ravan flew.

Sampati the elder brother,
Of Jatayu, that went under,
Heard their talk on the beach,
O’er the failure in their search.

Once Sampati and his brother,
Jatayu were flying together,
On a combat, in the sky,
Midway Jatayu couldn’t fly.

As the Sun was scorching
Sampati was protecting
Jatayu from the Sun’s heat
And got his wings burnt.

With no wings, he had to hop,
To find his food on the top
Of the hills or near the sea shore,
Eat whatever he got, less or more.

With his sharp eye vision,
He saw Sita’s position,
On the other side of the sea,
As far as his eyes could see.

With joy Vanaras went round,
O’er what they had found
All their shout and sound
Marked their search end.

Having thus helped Ram,
Sampati’s good time
Began, with wings new
On both sides that grew.