A Comprehensive Collection - Swami Vivekananda

"Blessed500 THE RAMAYANA.an army and conquer the giant and recover Sita. * And heofferedSita that if Sita wished it, he would take Sita onhis shoulder and with one leap clear the ocean r nd go backto Rama. But Sita could not. She was chastity itself,she would never touch the body of another man except thatof her husband. So there she remained. And Ramaliadsent her in token his signet ring ; this Hanuman shovedto Sita. And Sita gave a jewel from her hair. With thatHanuman returned. And then the army collected, andthen they marched towards the southernmost point ofIndia ;and there they built a huge bridge,which stillremains to-day, called Setu, which Rama smonkeysbuilt.And Rama was God incarnate ; else, how could he daall these^things. He was the incarnation of God, accordingto the Hindus. They believe him to be the fifth or sixthincarnation of God in India.And now, these demons and monkeys, and all these rcame ; they uprooted whole hills and brought them downand put them into the water and covered them with stonesand trees, and all, thus making the huge embankment.And a little squirrel came, and he rolled himself in thesand, ran back to the bridge and shook off the sand ;andhe ran again.He thus put in sand work for the bridge ofRama. The monkeys laughed. They were bringing wholemountains, whole forests, bringing huge loads of sands, andlooking at the little squirrel rolling in the sand and shakinghimself, they laughed. But Rama saw it, and said :be the squirrel ;he is doinghis work and heis quite as great as the greatest one of you."And thenhe stroked the squirrel on the back. Those are themarks of Rama s finger you see on the running squirrel sback.