Note 309 — Chapter II · (continued 3)

Rama, obliged to cede the throne to his brother Bharatta, having on that account been banished by his father, lived with his wife Sitá, and his younger brother Lakshmana upon the mountain Chitra Kotá, in Bundelkand, whence he descended towards the south into the woods of Dandakam. Every where he protected the Rishis, destroying their enemies, the Rakshasas. The head of these was Rávaná, king of Lanka (Ceylon), who, in order to take revenge of Rama, carried away by a successful stratagem, Ráma’s beloved consort, Sîtá. The unfortunate husband, to release his wife, concluded an alliance with Hanuman and Sugriva, chiefs of the savage inhabitants, called monkies, of southern India, and by their aid passed over to the island, took its capital, Lanka, and killed the tyrant, Rávańa, in a battle. Sitá was released, but, for proving her purity preserved, she underwent the ordeal of fire: it proved satisfactory; her innocence was manifest to the multitude, but, it appears, not quite so to the mind of her husband, who separated from her.