Pampā Sarovara (the Pampā lake) is a beautiful holy lake in the south, near Ṛshyamūka mountain, the āśrama of Śabarī and the hill of Mataṅga. It lies in the region south of the Daṇḍakāraṇya.

After Kabandha was freed, he told Rāma to go to the Pampā lake. It was the landmark near which Sugrīva lived in exile on Ṛshyamūka. Śabarī gave Rāma the same direction. So the Pampā lake is the last waypoint of the Āraṇya Kāṇḍa. Rāma and Lakshmaṇa were heading toward it as the kāṇḍa closed, on their way to the friendship with Sugrīva that would make the war with Rāvaṇa possible.

The lake

Pampā was a lake of rare natural beauty, ringed with flowering trees and full of lovely birds. Śabarī described it to Rāma with deep affection, for it was a familiar and well-loved part of her long life in the forest. The lake lay near Ṛshyamūka mountain, where Sugrīva lived in exile. The Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa tells this in Āraṇya Kāṇḍa, Chapters 74 and 75.

Its place in the Rāmāyaṇa

Kabandha, after he was freed from his śāpa (curse), and Śabarī, each on her own, sent Rāma to the Pampā lake. From there he could reach Ṛshyamūka and find Sugrīva. The lake is the turning point between the Āraṇya Kāṇḍa (the years in the forest) and the Kishkindhā Kāṇḍa (the friendship with Sugrīva and the search for Sītā). The Āraṇya Kāṇḍa ends with Rāma and Lakshmaṇa on their way to Pampā. The Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa tells this in Āraṇya Kāṇḍa, Chapters 71 to 75.

Rāma’s lament at Pampā

When Rāma and Lakshmaṇa reached the shore of Pampā Sarovara, it was the height of vasanta (spring), a season of joyful pairing in all of nature. Every sight made Rāma’s grief for Sītā deeper. He walked along the fragrant shore and looked at the lotus-filled water and the pairs of birds singing for joy. Each sign of natural happiness pierced him like an arrow. The lotuses reminded him of Sītā’s eyes. The blossoming flowers recalled her hair. The spring breeze recalled her breath. The pairs of birds, glad in each other’s company, made his own loneliness hard to bear. He feared that she could not live through the separation. He feared that she had already died.

Lakshmaṇa listened to every word of this lament with devotion. Then he spoke firmly: “You are no ordinary man. Utsāha (resolute effort) is the true strength. Sugrīva can tell you where Sītā is. Let us move forward.” Rāma steadied himself, and they went on toward Ṛshyamūka. The Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa tells this in Kishkindhā Kāṇḍa, Chapter 1.

Pampā Sarovara in the Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa

The Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa makes Pampā Sarovara the setting of a much longer account at the end of the Araṇya Kāṇḍa.

Rāma’s lament

When Rāma and Lakshmaṇa came to Pampā Sarovara, it was the height of spring. The lake had flowering trees, campaka, vakula, kadamba and pāṭala, with cakravāka birds and kalahaṃsas, and fragrance and colour everywhere. All of this only deepened Rāma’s grief for Sītā. Every pair of birds and animals, glad in each other’s company, seemed to mock his loneliness. He spoke to Lakshmaṇa in the manner of viraha (the grief of separation). He pointed to the paired birds, to the doe searching for her mate along with her companion, and to the male elephant following his female.

In the Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa, Bhagavān Śiva tells this to Pārvatī and remarks on it. Bhagavān Rāma is the nirguṇa (beyond all qualities) jagannātha (master of the world), the master of all that moves and does not move. Yet he showed the grief of viraha as an ordinary man would. This was his līlā (divine play) for the good of the world.

Nārada’s visit

At Pampā, Nārada Maharshi came, having come especially to have darśana (sight) of Rāma in his viraha. He bowed and then asked Rāma a question that had stayed with him for a long time: “On that day, when you broke my longing for Viśvamohinī, why did you do that?”

Rāma explained that he always protects his devotees from the forces that bind. Of all the forms of māyā, the māyā of strī (woman) is the strongest. It is the vasanta (spring) for the forest of the heart, and it fills the heart with desire of the senses. He had broken Nārada’s marriage to guard him from this bondage. Nārada received this with great joy. Then he asked Rāma to tell him the lakshaṇas (marks) of a sādhu.

Rāma gave the full teaching of the Sādhu Lakshaṇa. He ended by saying that even Śāradā and Śesha could not fully describe all the virtues of a sādhu. Nārada bowed down before Rāma and left for Brahmaloka. The Araṇya Kāṇḍa closes with this scene.

Sources

Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Āraṇya Kāṇḍa, Chapters 71 to 75
Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Kishkindhā Kāṇḍa, Chapter 1
Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa, Araṇya Kāṇḍa