Godavari in the search for Sita, named Godávarí in the poem, becomes a landmark in Ráma’s search for Sítá after she disappears. Remembered as a stream Sítá loved, it draws the brothers’ attention as a place she might have visited; when Ráma reaches its bank and calls for her, the river offers no reply.

A Stream Associated with Sítá

Ráma identifies Godávarí as a stream Sítá loved. This detail makes the river more than a feature of the landscape: it connects the search to her habits and to the intimate life the couple shared before her disappearance. The poem offers no further description of the stream’s geography here, centering instead on its personal association with Sítá.

The Search at the River

In anguish, Ráma asks Lakshmaṇ to go quickly to Godávarí and learn whether Sítá has gone there. He then seeks the river himself, reaching its shelving bank and calling out for her. The movement from sending his brother to searching in person gives the river a place in the brothers’ urgent, widening effort to find her.

An Unanswered Appeal

No answering voice comes from the stream. The encounter therefore brings Ráma no news, despite the river’s close association with Sítá. Its narrative force lies in that contrast: a place linked to the missing woman becomes a site where her absence is made palpable, while the search continues without resolution.