वाल्मीकिना सीताशुद्धेः समर्थनम्

When that night had passed, the king went at dawn to the sacrificial ground, and the mighty Rāghava summoned all the seers: Vasiṣṭha, Vāmadeva, Jābāli and Kāśyapa, Viśvāmitra, Dīrghatamas and Durvāsas of great austerity; Pulastya, Śakti, Bhārgava and Vāmana, the long-lived Mārkaṇḍeya and the glorious Maudgalya; Garga, Cyavana, Śatānanda who knew dharma, the radiant Bharadvāja and the brilliant son of Agni; Nārada, Parvata, the glorious Gautama, Kātyāyana, Suyajña, and Agastya, treasury of austerities. These and many other sages of strict vows all came, full of curiosity. Rākṣasas of great valour and monkeys of great strength, all great-souled, gathered out of curiosity too. Kṣatriyas, śūdras and vaiśyas came by the thousand, and brahmins of strict vows from many lands, some devoted to knowledge, some to ritual, others to yoga; all came to witness Sītā's oath. The list of seers is long: almost every famous great seer is present, so that the oath has the highest possible witness. Every class and every people, monkeys and rākṣasas too, are there, and the poet shows the whole world as witness. The repeated "out of curiosity" shows how intensely the people longed to see Sītā and the outcome of the oath. Rāma himself goes to the sacrificial ground at dawn and summons the seers, and his eagerness is plain. These sages are not only witnesses but the very authorities of dharma; no one could disregard an oath taken before them. Vasiṣṭha and Viśvāmitra were Rāma's teachers, Agastya his guide in exile, Bharadvāja his host on the way to Citrakūṭa; all are bound up with Rāma's life.

Then, hearing that the whole gathering had come and stood as still as stone, the best of sages came quickly, bringing Sītā. Sītā followed behind the seer with her face downcast, her hands joined, her eyes brimming with tears, and Rāma in her heart. Seeing Sītā coming behind Vālmīki like the Veda following Brahmā, the people raised a great cry of approval. Then a tumult arose from them all, their hearts shaken by a grief born of deep sorrow. Some cried, "Well done, Rāma!", others, "Well done, Sītā!", and others among the onlookers cried out for both. "Still as stone" shows how motionless and silent the crowd was, all waiting breathless. The image of the Veda following Brahmā is exalted: Vālmīki is like Brahmā and Sītā holy as the sacred Word, so that the poet proclaims her purity before she says a word. "Rāma in her heart" tells us that Rāma alone dwells in Sītā's heart, which will be the ground of her oath in the next sarga. The crowd reacts in three ways, praising Rāma, praising Sītā, or praising both, and so the differences in public opinion are also suggested. Sītā keeps silent; she says nothing, only joins her hands and weeps. After many years she comes before Rāma for the first time, with pain and shyness together in her heart, and the people's grief is natural, for they melt at the sight of her sorrow.

Then the foremost of sages, Vālmīki, with Sītā beside him, came into the middle of the crowd and said to Rāghava: "Son of Daśaratha, this is Sītā, faithful to her vows and devoted to dharma, whom you abandoned near my hermitage because of slander. Rāma of great vows, you fear the censure of the people, and Sītā will give you proof; please give her leave. These two sons of Janakī, twins, are your own invincible sons; I tell you the truth. I am the tenth son of Pracetas, delight of the Raghus, and I do not recall ever speaking a falsehood: these two are your sons." Now the secret is revealed before everyone: the boys are Rāma's sons. Vālmīki sets his own truthfulness and his lineage as surety, naming himself the tenth son of Pracetas. "Abandoned because of slander" points plainly at what Rāma did; the sage speaks the truth fearlessly, without fear even of the king. "Please give her leave" is a humble request: Sītā will take her oath only with Rāma's consent. In the previous sargas the sage had told the boys to say only that they were Vālmīki's disciples; now he himself reveals the truth, and the secret comes out at its proper time. "Faithful to her vows and devoted to dharma" is the sage's testimony to Sītā's character: even in the hermitage she lived by her vows and by dharma. "Twins" tells us the boys were born together.

"For many thousands of years I have practised austerities; may I never enjoy their fruit if Maithilī is guilty. I remember no wrong I have ever done in thought, word or deed; may I enjoy the fruit of that only if Maithilī is sinless. Rāghava, I examined her through the five elements and the senses, with the mind as sixth, and, knowing Sītā to be pure, I took her in at the forest waterfall. She is pure in conduct, sinless, and holds her husband as her god; she will give proof to you who fear the people's censure. So, son of the best of men, I have seen with divine sight, with the eye of knowledge, that she is pure at heart, she, your dearest, whom you abandoned though you knew her to be pure, because your mind was darkened by the people's slander." Here the sage stakes the whole fruit of his austerity, and that is the supreme oath. "The five elements with the mind as sixth" means he tested and made certain of her with his five senses and his mind. His last words are sharp: "though you knew her to be pure". Rāma himself knew Sītā was pure and yet abandoned her because of the people's slander, and the sage says so openly. So Vālmīki's words prepare for Sītā's oath, which she will take herself in the next sarga.