Śṛṅgaverapura is the pleasant town beside the Gangá where Ráma’s departure from the royal procession becomes a decisive separation. He leaves the chariot behind, sends his driver back, meets Guha, king of the Nishádas, and is placed on the river’s farther bank as the journey continues into the forest.

Setting and River Crossing

The poem locates Śṛṅgaverapura at the holy waters of the Gangá and presents it as a pleasant town. Its importance in the account comes not from an extended description of its buildings or people, but from its position beside the river: it is where Ráma’s route turns from the chariot road toward the farther bank.

Ráma’s Departure

The king and the sorrowful people have followed Ráma’s chariot for a time. At Śṛṅgaverapura, Ráma dismounts and tells his driver to turn back. That instruction gives the place a personal as well as geographic significance: the royal party’s pursuit ends, and the separation between Ráma and those returning home becomes concrete.

Guha and the Threshold of Exile

At the town Ráma meets Guha, identified as king of the Nishádas. The narrative then places Ráma on the farther bank of the Gangá before continuing his movement from forest to forest. Śṛṅgaverapura thus marks a passage in the exile journey: the river crossing follows the return of the chariot and encounter with Guha, carrying Ráma beyond the immediate reach of the departing procession.