Page 102 - 9th-language-english-2

UNIT - 5

Prose

Before you read
Not to be republished
Enact the following scene

(King Rama’s court. Rama, Laxman and courtiers are sitting.
©KTBS
A servant, who has something to say, comes and stands hesi-
tantly.)

Rama (to the servant): Speak up. You have nothing to fear.

Servant : O, King, I can’t! Not in the presence of revered
Laxman and the wisest courtiers.

Rama : You have my protection. Speak your mind.

Servant : Maharaja, today I saw a washerman, beating his
wife black and blue. He told her to get out of his
house. He said he was not Rama to accept a wife
after she had lived in another’s custody.
(There is some commotion in the court.)

Laxman : The washerman deserves a lesson for his nonsen-
sical comment about mother Sita.

Courtiers (all): Yes Maharaj, he must be punished.

Rama : My dear Laxman and courtiers, the remarks of the
washerman do have some implications. I know
and for that matter everyone knows what a great
lady Sita is. But when such remarks are made, the
Raja Dharma dictates that it is necessary for Sita
to prove herself spotless. Dear Laxman, Sita has
expressed her desire to be in the sacred company
of the sages. I command you take Sita to the jungle
and leave her there for sometime.

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