Canto 3 -
Araṇya-kāṇḍa
Chapter 8: Śrī Rāma Departs From Sutīkṣṇa’s Āśrama
Text 3.8.2
उत्थाय तु यथाकालं राघवः सह सीतया।
उपास्पृशत्सुशीतेन जलेनोत्पलगन्धिना॥
utthāpya tu yathā-kālaṁ rāghavaḥ saha sītayā
upāspṛśat suśītena jalenotpala-gandhinā
utthāpya tu = having woken up; yathā-kālam = at the right time; rāghavaḥ = Rāghava; saha = with; sītayā = Sītā-devī; upāspṛśat = bathed 1; suśītena = in very cool; jalena = water; utpala-gandhinā = that had the fragrance of lotuses.
Having woken up at the right time, Rāghava bathed with Sītā-devī in very cool water that had the fragrance of lotuses.
1 Rāmāyaṇa-bhūṣaṇa: utpala-gandhinā taṭāka-snānaṁ sūcyate. Apte’s Sanskrit-English dictionary states that a taṭāka is “a pond (deep enough for the lotus and other aquatic plants).”
“With Sītā-devī” indicates that Lakṣmaṇa had bathed earlier. “Very cool water” indicates that there was no [mixture of] warm water [there]. That the water had the fragrance of lotuses indicates that they had taken bath in a lotus pond.1