Canto 2: Ayodhyā-kāṇḍa ()Chapter 59: Sumantra Describes the Agony of all Creatures in the CountryText 2.59.7
Canto 2 -
Ayodhyā-kāṇḍa
Chapter 59: Sumantra Describes the Agony of all Creatures in the Country
Text 2.59.7
गुहेन सार्धं तत्रैव स्थितोऽस्मि दिवसान्बहून्।
आशया यदि मां रामः पुनः शब्दापयेदिति॥
guhena sārdhaṁ tatraiva sthito ’smi divasān bahūn
āśayā yadi māṁ rāmaḥ punaḥ śabdāpayed iti
guhena sārdham = with Guha; tatra eva = there; sthitaḥ asmi = I stayed; divasān = long days; bahūn = for three; āśayā = with the hope that; yadi = may; mām = me; rāmaḥ = Rāma; punaḥ śabdāpayet iti = call back.
I stayed there with Guha for three long days with the hope that Rāma may call me back.
1 This paragraph is taken from a part of the commentary to text 2.62.18. It is placed here to aid clarification.
Sumantra stayed with Guha because he considered that meeting those who are loved by Rāma would remove his distress, and in fact he stayed with him for a few days.
Rāma, Lakṣmaṇa and Sītā-devī stayed under a banyan tree on the first day, in Bharadvāja’s āśrama on the second day and on the bank of the Yamunā on the third day. On the fourth day, they entered Citrakūṭa.
Guha’s spies returned on that fourth day through a straight route by traveling day and night [as soon as they discovered that Rāma, Lakṣmaṇa and Sītā were preparing to go to Citrakūṭa]. Sumantra found out from them that Rāma was preparing to go to Citrakūṭa and quickly traveled to Ayodhyā.1
Sumantra states that he stayed with Guha for several days because each day appeared to him to be of the duration of a kalpa due to separation from Rāma.
Sumantra thought that Rāma may call him through the forest-dwellers.