Sítá’s meeting with Anasuya turns a visit to Atri’s retreat into an encounter shaped by hospitality, attentive listening, and a gift. After Ráma, accompanied by Sítá and Lakshmaṇ, reaches the retreat and pays reverence to Atri, he receives a welcome there. Anasuya is then called to meet them. The scene moves from formal respect for a holy host to a more intimate exchange between two women, with Sítá’s story and Anasuya’s response at its center.

Arrival at Atri’s Retreat

Ráma comes to Atri’s pure retreat with Sítá and Lakshmaṇ beside him. He pays reverence to Atri and wins the sage’s welcome; the account also notes that Lakshmaṇ and Sítá are cheered with due observance. These gestures establish the encounter as more than a chance meeting: the visitors are received within the order of the retreat, where reverence and hospitality shape their arrival.

Anasuya enters at the call of Atri, described as his venerable spouse. The sequence gives her a distinct place in the welcome. The greeting first acknowledges Atri as host, then brings Anasuya into the scene, where she becomes Sítá’s listener and giver. The movement from a shared reception to a conversation between them changes the scale of the episode, focusing attention on Sítá’s experience and the recognition another woman offers it.

Sítá Tells Her Story

Anasuya asks Sítá to tell how Ráma won her hand among the assembled suitors. The request makes Sítá, rather than Ráma, the teller of the story of their marriage. The passage does not recount that earlier contest in detail here; instead, it frames it as a remembered event that Anasuya wishes to hear from Sítá herself. The question draws the encounter toward personal history without turning it into a public account of royal achievement.

Sítá’s reply speaks of faithful wives and the glory accorded to pure love. Her words move beyond her own marriage to place devotion within a wider company of women. Anasuya responds with rapture, and the narration emphasizes her emotional reception of Sítá’s speech. The exchange is therefore reciprocal in attention: Anasuya invites the story, Sítá gives it, and Anasuya answers not with judgment or interruption but with visible affection.

Anasuya’s Gift

After Sítá’s reply, Anasuya presses kisses upon her head. The gesture gives physical expression to the warmth already conveyed through her response. Anasuya then offers Sítá a precious robe to wear, presenting the gift as something that will repay her sweet contentment. The stated reason links the offering to the pleasure Anasuya has found in Sítá’s company and account; the passage identifies the robe, but does not specify further properties or describe its later use.

The gift completes the scene’s pattern of exchange. Anasuya’s welcome and question make room for Sítá’s story; Sítá’s account brings Anasuya delight; Anasuya answers with affection and an offering. The robe is not presented as a political token or as compensation for a service, but as a personal expression of regard within the retreat’s hospitality. The encounter thus gives the act of listening a consequence: Sítá’s words are met with warmth and a concrete gift.

Place in the Narrative

The episode places a brief pause of welcome and conversation within Ráma, Sítá, and Lakshmaṇ’s journey among forest retreats. Its movement is quiet but carefully shaped: arrival and reverence, Anasuya’s invitation, Sítá’s recollection, affectionate response, and gift. Rather than advancing through confrontation, it develops through the exchange of attention and honor.

Sítá’s account also links her present forest journey to the marriage that joined her to Ráma. Anasuya’s question makes that history part of their meeting, while her response recognizes the devotion Sítá describes. The scene’s significance lies in this intimate recognition: within Atri’s retreat, Sítá is received not only as one of Ráma’s companions, but as a speaker whose account moves her listener and elicits a gift.