82 Srimad-Bhagavatam [Canto 9, Ch. 10

prescribed funeral ceremonies for his family members to save
them from the path to hell.

PURPORT

After giving up the body, one is transferred to another body, but
sometimes, if one is too sinful, he is checked from transmigrating to
another body, and thus he becomes a ghost. To save a diseased person
from ghostly life, the funeral ceremony, or sréddha ceremony, as
prescribed in authorized sdstra, must be performed. Ravana was killed
by Lord Ramacandra and was destined for hellish life, but by Lord
Ramacandra’s advice, Vibhisana, Ravana’s brother, performed all the
duties prescribed in relation to the dead. Thus Lord Ramacandra was
kind to Ravana even after Ravana’s death.

TEXT 30
qa eT ATTRA
PIECE CCS IPEDEMIL CLUE Cir GIES

tato dadarsa bhagavan
asoka-vanikasrame

ksdmam sva-viraha-vyadhim
Simsapa-miilam-asritam

tatah—thereafter; dadarsa—saw; bhagavan—the Supreme Per-
sonality of Godhead; asoka-vanika-dsrame—in a small cottage in the
forest of Asoka trees; ksamam—very lean and thin; sva-viraha-
vyGdhim—suffering from the disease of separation from Lord
Ramacandra; sirnSapéd—of the tree known as Sitnsapa; miilam—the
root; dsritam—taking shelter of.

TRANSLATION

Thereafter, Lord Ramacandra found Sitadevi sitting in a small
cottage beneath the tree named Simsapa in a forest of Asoka trees.

She was lean and thin, being aggrieved because of separation from
Him.
