# Araṇya Kāṇḍa 15 — Rāma’s winter bath in the Godāvarī *Lakṣmaṇa describes cold water and imagines Bharata’s Sarayū bath, Rāma bathes with Sītā & Lakṣmaṇa and offers water* Portion: The winter bath at Pañcavaṭī · Verses: 39 · Ref format: 3.15. ## Sequence - At the close of autumn, early winter begins while Rāma is living at Pañcavaṭī (15.1) - one morning, as night gives way to dawn, he sets out to bathe in the Godāvarī → Sītā and Lakṣmaṇa follow, Lakṣmaṇa carrying a water pot (15.2–3) - Lakṣmaṇa remarks that Rāma's favorite season has arrived: frost roughens the world, crops cover the earth, water is no longer pleasant to enter, and the warmth of a fire is welcome (15.4–5) - he describes āgrayaṇa (new-harvest offerings) to the pitṛs and devatās, plentiful dairy produce in the countryside, and Kings setting out on campaigns (15.6–7). - Lakṣmaṇa describes the sun’s southward course and the snowy Himālaya (15.8–9) - midday sunshine is pleasant, but shade and water are unwelcome; the nights grow longer and colder, and people stop sleeping outdoors (15.10–12) - frost dims the moon like breath clouding a mirror and makes the west wind doubly cold (15.13–15) - mist veils the woods and grain fields, cranes call, and ripe rice bends beneath its golden grain (15.16–17) - the pale morning sun gives little warmth; dew wets the grass, and flowerless trees seem asleep (15.18–21) - fog hides the river birds, leaving only their calls; frost wets the banks, makes water on the treetops pleasant to taste, and shatters the lotuses, leaving bare stalks (15.22–24). - The cold turns Lakṣmaṇa's thoughts to Bharata, who has renounced Kingship and comfort, eats sparingly, and sleeps on the cold ground out of devotion to Rāma (15.25–26) - he imagines Bharata setting out with his ministers for the Sarayū at this very hour → remembering how delicately Bharata was raised, he wonders how he can bear plunging into the river in the bitter cold before dawn (15.27–28) - he praises Bharata's gentleness, self-restraint, and wholehearted adoption of his brother's life of tapas (15.29–31) - he says Bharata disproves the saying that a son takes after his mother, then wonders how Kaikeyī could be so cruel with Daśaratha as her husband and Bharata as her son (15.32–33) - Rāma stops him from blaming Kaikeyī and asks him to speak only of Bharata → he says that although his commitment to the forest vow remains firm, longing for Bharata makes his heart childlike again (15.34–36) - they reach the Godāvarī and bathe → they perform water-tarpaṇa for the pitṛs and daivatas, then praise the risen Sūrya and the devatās (15.37–38) - after bathing, Rāma shines beside Sītā and Lakṣmaṇa like Rudra after his bath, accompanied by the mountain-King's daughter, Pārvatī, and Nandin (15.39). ## Verses **3.15.1** vasatas tasya tu mukhaṃ rāghavasya mahātmanaḥ śaradvyapāye hemanta ṛtur iṣṭaḥ pravartate As the great-souled Rāghava was dwelling there, at the close of autumn the pleasant season of early winter set in — its very onset. **3.15.2** sa kadā cit prabhātāyāṃ śarvaryāṃ raghunandanaḥ prayayāv abhiṣekārthaṃ ramyaṃ godāvarīṃ nadīm Once, when the night had brightened into dawn, that delight of the Raghus set out to bathe in the lovely Godāvarī river. **3.15.3** prahvaḥ kalaśahastas taṃ sītayā saha vīryavān pṛṣṭhato 'nuvrajan bhrātā saumitrir idam abravīt Bowing respectfully, water-pot in hand, the valiant brother Saumitri, walking behind him along with Sītā, spoke these words to him: **3.15.4** ayaṃ sa kālaḥ saṃprāptaḥ priyo yas te priyaṃvada alaṃkṛta ivābhāti yena saṃvatsaraḥ śubhaḥ “O sweet-spoken one, this dear season has now arrived — the one you love — by which the auspicious year shines as though adorned. **3.15.5** nīhāraparuṣo lokaḥ pṛṣhivī sasyamālinī jalāny anupabhogyāni subhago havyavāhanaḥ The world is rough with frost, the earth is garlanded with crops, the waters are no longer fit to enjoy, and fire has become a welcome delight. **3.15.6** navāgrayaṇa pūjābhir abhyarcya pitṛdevatāḥ kṛtāgrayaṇakāḥ kāle santo vigatakalmaṣāḥ Having worshipped the ancestral deities with offerings of the new first-fruits, the virtuous, at the proper time, having performed the first-fruits rite, are freed of sin. **3.15.7** prājyakāmā janapadāḥ saṃpannataragorasāḥ vicaranti mahīpālā yātrārthaṃ vijigīṣavaḥ The country districts are rich in their desires, abounding in fine milk-products; and the kings, eager for conquest, march out on campaign. **3.15.8** sevamāne dṛḍhaṃ sūrye diśam antakasevitām vihīnatilakeva strī nottarā dik prakāśate As the sun steadfastly resorts to the quarter frequented by Death (the south), the northern quarter, like a woman bereft of her forehead-mark, does not shine. **3.15.9** prakṛtyā himakośāḍhyo dūrasūryaś ca sāmpratam yathārthanāmā suvyaktaṃ himavān himavān giriḥ By nature rich in stores of snow, and now with the sun far off, the Himavat mountain — 'snow-possessing' — is very plainly true to its name. **3.15.10** atyantasukhasaṃcārā madhyāhne sparśataḥ sukhāḥ divasāḥ subhagādityāś chāyāsaliladurbhagāḥ The days, exceedingly pleasant to move about in, agreeable to the touch at noon, with a delightful sun, make shade and water disagreeable. **3.15.11** mṛdusūryāḥ sanīhārāḥ paṭuśītāḥ samārutāḥ śūnyāraṇyā himadhvastā divasā bhānti sāmpratam With their mild sun, their mist, their sharp cold and their winds, their empty forests overwhelmed by frost, the days now gleam. **3.15.12** nivṛttākāśaśayanāḥ puṣyanītā himāruṇāḥ śītā vṛddhatarāyāmās triyāmā yānti sāmpratam The nights, on which sleeping in the open has ceased, led on by the Puṣya constellation, reddened by frost, cold, and grown longer, now pass by. **3.15.13** ravisaṃkrāntasaubhābyas tuṣārāruṇamaṇḍalaḥ niḥśvāsāndha ivādarśaś candramā na prakāśate Its splendour passed over to the sun, its orb ruddy with frost, the moon does not shine — like a mirror dimmed by breath. **3.15.14** jyotsnā tuṣāramalinā paurṇamāsyāṃ na rājate sīteva cātapa śyāmā lakṣyate na tu śobhate The moonlight, sullied by frost, does not shine on the full-moon night; darkened even in the sunshine like Sītā, it is seen but does not gleam. **3.15.15** prakṛtyā śītalasparśo himaviddhaś ca sāmpratam pravāti paścimo vāyuḥ kāle dviguṇaśītalaḥ By nature cold to the touch and now pierced through with frost, the west wind blows at this season doubly cold. **3.15.16** bāṣpacchannān araṇyāni yavagodhūmavanti ca śobhante 'bhyudite sūrye nadadbhiḥ krauñcasārasaiḥ The forests, veiled in mist and rich in barley and wheat, are beautiful when the sun has risen, with the cries of krauñcas and sāras cranes. **3.15.17** kharjūrapuṣpākṛtibhiḥ śirobhiḥ pūrṇataṇḍulaiḥ śobhante kiṃ cidālambāḥ śālayaḥ kanakaprabhāḥ With their heads shaped like date-palm blossoms and full of grain, the rice-plants, slightly bending, gleam gold-hued. **3.15.18** mayūkhair upasarpadbhir himanīhārasaṃvṛtaiḥ dūram abhyuditaḥ sūryaḥ śaśāṅka iva lakṣyate With its rays creeping forth, wrapped in frost and mist, the sun, risen far up, looks like the moon. **3.15.19** agrāhyavīryaḥ pūrvāhṇe madhyāhne sparśataḥ sukhaḥ saṃraktaḥ kiṃ cid āpāṇḍur ātapaḥ śobhate kṣitau Its power imperceptible in the forenoon, pleasant to the touch at midday, somewhat reddened and pale-white, the sunshine is beautiful upon the earth. **3.15.20** avaśyāyanipātena kiṃ cit praklinnaśādvalā vanānāṃ śobhate bhūmir niviṣṭataruṇātapā Its turf somewhat moistened by the falling of dew, and the young sunlight settled upon it, the ground of the forests is beautiful. **3.15.21** avaśyāyatamonaddhā nīhāratamasāvṛtāḥ prasuptā iva lakṣyante vipuṣpā vanarājayaḥ Bound up in the darkness of dew and enveloped in the gloom of mist, the flowerless rows of forest trees look as though fast asleep. **3.15.22** bāṣpasaṃchannasalilā rutavijñeyasārasāḥ himārdravālukais tīraiḥ sarito bhānti sāmpratam With their waters shrouded in mist, their sāras cranes known only by their cries, and their banks of frost-wet sand, the rivers now gleam. **3.15.23** tuṣārapatanāc caiva mṛdutvād bhāskarasya ca śaityād agāgrastham api prāyeṇa rasavaj jalam Because of the falling of frost and the mildness of the sun, and because of the cold, even the water resting on treetops is for the most part savoury. **3.15.24** jarājarjaritaiḥ parṇaiḥ śīrṇakesarakarṇikaiḥ nālaśeṣā himadhvastā na bhānti kamalākarāḥ With their leaves worn out by age, their filaments and seed-cups fallen, only their stalks remaining, shattered by frost, the lotus-ponds no longer shine. **3.15.25** asmiṃs tu puruṣavyāghra kāle duḥkhasamanvitaḥ tapaś carati dharmātmā tvadbhaktyā bharataḥ pure But at this season, O tiger among men, the righteous Bharata, filled with sorrow, out of devotion to you practises austerities in the city. **3.15.26** tyaktvā rājyaṃ ca mānaṃ ca bhogāṃś ca vividhān bahūn tapasvī niyatāhāraḥ śete śīte mahītale Renouncing kingship and honour and manifold pleasures, that ascetic, restrained in his food, sleeps on the cold ground. **3.15.27** so 'pi velām imāṃ nūnam abhiṣekārtham udyataḥ vṛtaḥ prakṛtibhir nityaṃ prayāti sarayūṃ nadīm He too, surely, ready at this very hour to bathe, ever surrounded by his ministers, goes forth to the Sarayū river. **3.15.28** atyantasukhasaṃvṛddhaḥ sukumāro himārditaḥ kathaṃ tv apararātreṣu sarayūm avagāhate Raised in the utmost comfort, delicate, and tormented by the cold — how then, in the last watches of the night, does he plunge into the Sarayū? **3.15.29** padmapatrekṣaṇaḥ śyāmaḥ śrīmān nirudaro mahān dharmajñaḥ satyavādī ca hrī niṣedho jitendriyaḥ Lotus-petal-eyed, dark-hued, glorious, slender-waisted and lofty, a knower of dharma, truthful, restrained by modesty, master of his senses, **3.15.30** priyābhibhāṣī madhuro dīrghabāhur ariṃdamaḥ saṃtyajya vividhān saukhyān āryaṃ sarvātmanāśritaḥ kindly in speech, gentle, long-armed, a subduer of foes — having abandoned pleasures of every kind, he has with his whole heart taken to the noble (way of his brother). **3.15.31** jitaḥ svargas tava bhrātrā bharatena mahātmanā vanastham api tāpasye yas tvām anuvidhīyate Heaven has been won by your great-souled brother Bharata, who, though you dwell in the forest, conforms himself to you in the ascetic's life. **3.15.32** na pitryam anuvarntante mātṛkaṃ dvipadā iti khyāto lokapravādo 'yaṃ bharatenānyathākṛtaḥ 'Bipeds do not follow the father's nature, but the mother's' — this well-known popular saying has been proved otherwise by Bharata. **3.15.33** bhartā daśaratho yasyāḥ sādhuś ca bharataḥ sutaḥ kathaṃ nu sāmbā kaikeyī tādṛśī krūradarśinī She whose husband was Daśaratha and whose son is the good Bharata — how could that mother Kaikeyī be so cruel of intent? **3.15.34** ity evaṃ lakṣmaṇe vākyaṃ snehād bruvati dharmike parivādaṃ jananyās tam asahan rāghavo 'bravīt When the righteous Lakṣmaṇa was speaking these words thus out of affection, Rāghava, unable to bear that censure of his mother, said: **3.15.35** na te 'mbā madhyamā tāta garhitavyā kathaṃ cana tām evekṣvākunāthasya bharatasya kathāṃ kuru “Our middle mother, dear brother, is in no way to be blamed by you; speak only that story of Bharata, lord of the Ikṣvākus. **3.15.36** niścitāpi hi me buddhir vanavāse dṛḍhavratā bharatasnehasaṃtaptā bāliśī kriyate punaḥ For though my mind is firmly resolved, steadfast in its vow of forest-dwelling, when scorched by affection for Bharata it is made childish again.” **3.15.37** ity evaṃ vilapaṃs tatra prāpya godāvarīṃ nadīm cakre 'bhiṣekaṃ kākutsthaḥ sānujaḥ saha sītayā Lamenting thus there, and having reached the Godāvarī river, Kākutstha, with his younger brother and with Sītā, performed his ablution. **3.15.38** tarpayitvātha salilais te pitṝn daivatāni ca stuvanti smoditaṃ sūryaṃ devatāś ca samāhitāḥ Then, having satisfied the ancestors and the gods with water-offerings, they, composed in mind, praised the risen sun and the deities. **3.15.39** kṛtābhiṣekaḥ sa rarāja rāmaḥ sītādvitīyaḥ saha lakṣmaṇena kṛtābhiṣekas tv agarājaputryā rudraḥ sanandir bhagavān iveśaḥ Having bathed, Rāma shone forth with Sītā as his second and together with Lakṣmaṇa, like the lord Rudra, the blessed god, after bathing, with the daughter of the mountain-king and with Nandin.