Sītā Darśana in the Aśoka Vaṭikā

After Hanumān entered Laṅkā, he searched Rāvaṇa’s palace all through the night and did not find Sītā. Then he found another garden inside the city, the Aśoka Vaṭikā. There, under a Śiṃśupā tree, surrounded by fearful rākshasī guards, sat a woman made thin as a skeleton by grief. She wore one soiled cloth, her hair was in a single braid, and she would not eat or sleep. By the jewels Śrī Rāma had described, and by a divine beauty that no suffering could hide, Hanumān knew her. She was Sītā, daughter of Janaka Mahārāja and wife of Śrī Rāmacandra. Hanumān wept with joy.

Searching Laṅkā through the night

After entering Laṅkā, Hanumān spent the night going through the city in his small cat-like form, searching with care. He went through the great assembly halls, the armouries, the stables and the rākshasa quarters. Above all he searched Rāvaṇa’s great central palace. It was a huge place of beauty and wealth, full of sleeping women, chosen warriors and every kind of luxury. It was the most splendid building he had ever seen. It had pillars of coral and gold, floors set with precious gems, hundreds of elephants and horses, and gardens of unearthly beauty. Hanumān went through it all in the small hours before dawn and searched every chamber. But Sītā was not there. This is in Sundara Kāṇḍa, Chapters 5–10.

Finding the Aśoka Vaṭikā

As dawn came near, Hanumān found another garden to the north of Rāvaṇa’s main palace. This was the Aśoka Vaṭikā. It was a grove of rare beauty. By Rāvaṇa’s power every tree was in flower or fruit at the same time. It was full of strange birds, crossed by streams, and shaded by a thousand kinds of flowering trees. In the middle of the garden stood a Caitya Prāsāda, a graceful pavilion used for pūjā or meditation. Near it, under a great Śiṃśupā tree, sat a small ring of rākshasī guards. They were rough and fierce to look at. They surrounded one figure who was not at all like them. This is in Sundara Kāṇḍa, Chapter 15.

Hanumān knows Sītā

At first the figure was hard to see. She was painfully thin from long fasting. Her clothes were soiled and had been reduced to one cloth. Her hair was matted in a single braid (eka-veṇī, the mark of a woman waiting for her absent husband to return). Her face was drawn with grief. She sat perfectly still, her eyes fixed on something within and not on the world around her. The rākshasīs around her were loud and hostile, the opposite of her calm.

Even so, through all the ruin of captivity, Hanumān saw what he had come to find. He remembered, point by point, the description that Śrī Rāma and Sugrīva had given of Sītā. He remembered the ornaments she had worn when she was carried off, which she had dropped for the vānaras to find at Ṛshyamūka. The jewels matched. Her divine beauty was dimmed by grief but could not be mistaken. More than any bodily mark, there was about her a quality of śuddha tapas, the shine of pure austerity and unfailing devotion, which no ordinary woman could have had. This was she: Sītā, daughter of Janaka, wife of Rāghava, a great patnī (wife) whose faithfulness had not wavered by a hair’s breadth through the months of her captivity. This is in Sundara Kāṇḍa, Chapter 15.

Hanumān’s watch and Rāvaṇa’s coming

Having found Sītā, Hanumān hid in the Śiṃśupā tree above her. He kept himself among the thick branches and leaves, so that he could watch without frightening her or drawing the notice of the rākshasīs. From there he watched Rāvaṇa come in the early morning. Rāvaṇa had ten heads and splendid clothes and was surrounded by his royal women. He stood before Sītā and once more pressed his suit. Hanumān saw the whole exchange: Rāvaṇa’s mixture of flattery, threat and pleading; Sītā’s firm refusal; and the terrible pressure on a lone woman among her enemies. He felt the full weight of Sītā’s trial and the depth of her courage. He waited until Rāvaṇa had gone before deciding that the time had come to go to her. This is in Sundara Kāṇḍa, Chapters 16–22.

Hanumān weeps

When Hanumān at last saw Sītā clearly, he was overcome. He wept. Rāma’s wife, the jewel of women, queen of Ayodhyā and daughter of a great king, sat in this state among rākshasīs in a strange garden. She was suffering as no one of her virtue should suffer, yet she was steady and shining in her inner life. This is in Sundara Kāṇḍa, Chapter 15.

Sources

• Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Sundara Kāṇḍa, Chapters 5–10
• Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Sundara Kāṇḍa, Chapter 15
• Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Sundara Kāṇḍa, Chapters 16–22