by Tulsidas
Seeing Sita’s beauty, Ram was full of joy,
He praised her in his heart, though words he had none.
‘It is as though Viranchi has made manifest in her form
All the skills with which he fashioned the world.
She makes beautiful beauty itself,
Like a flame that brightens light’s abode.
All comparisons are the stale leftovers of poets—
To what shall I compare Videh’s daughter?’
Thus describing Sita’s beauty to himself,
The Lord reflected upon his own state
And with a heart pure and innocent, said to his younger brother
These words appropriate to the moment—
(230)
‘Brother, this must be Janak’s daughter, the very one
For whom the ceremony of the bow is being held.
Her companions have brought her here to worship Gauri—
She wanders through the garden, lighting it up with her presence as she passes.
Seeing her extraordinary beauty,
My usually serene mind has grown agitated;
Only God knows the reason for this, brother,
But the right side of my body is twitching.72
It is the inherent nature of the dynasty of Raghu,
That no one even in thought sets foot upon the wrong path.
I have great faith in my heart
Which has never, even in a dream, look at another man’s wife.
Men who never turn their backs upon their enemy in battle,
Who are never captivated by nor look at another man’s wife,
And who never say no to one who asks—
Such noble men are very few in this world.’
He thus rambled to his younger brother,
But his heart, yearning for Sita’s beauty,
Drank in the radiance of her lovely face
As a honeybee sips nectar from a lotus.
(231)
Sita, bewildered, was looking all around her.
‘Where have the young princes gone?’ she worried.
Wherever the fawn-eyed Sita turned her glance,
Quantities of shining white lotuses rained down.
Her companions then pointed out, hidden behind some vines,
The handsome youths, one dark, the other fair.
Seeing his beauty, her eyes were filled with longing,
And she rejoiced as though she had found her own treasure.
With unwavering gaze she looked upon Raghupati’s radiance,
Her very eyelids forgot to blink.
In the intensity of her love, she lost all sense and awareness of her body
Like a chakor gazing at the autumn moon.
Through the pathway of her eyes she took Ram into her heart,
Then wisely shut the doors of her eyelids.
When her companions realized that Sita was overcome by love,
They were abashed and could not say a word.
At that very moment, the two brothers emerged
From the arbour of creepers and vines,
Like two radiant moons
Through a curtain of clouds.
(232)
‘The two handsome brothers are the very pinnacles of beauty,
Their bodies are as bright and splendid as the blue lotus and the golden.
Elegant peacock feathers, entwined with bunches of flowerbuds here and there
Adorn their heads.
Upon their foreheads gleam their tilaks and drops of perspiration,
Their ears are adorned with beautiful ornaments,
With curving eyebrows, and curly hair,
And eyes as bright as new lotus buds,
And handsome chin and nose and cheeks
And charming smiles that captivate the heart—
The radiance of their faces is such that I cannot describe it:
Beholding them puts innumerable gods of love to shame.
Jewelled necklaces upon their breasts, conch-like necks
And arms strong and powerful, like the trunk of Kam’s young elephant.
And the one with the cup of leaves full of flowers in his left hand—
The dark prince, my dear, is utterly enchanting.
Slim-waisted as a lion, clad in yellow garments,
He is the abode of beauty and grace.’
Beholding the jewel of the solar dynasty,
Sita’s companions forgot themselves completely.
(233)
One wise friend, recovering herself
And taking Sita’s hand, said to her,
‘Meditate upon Gauri another time.
For now, why not look at the young princes?’
Then Sita opened her eyes shyly
And saw before her the two lions of the line of Raghu.
Beholding Ram’s beauty from head to toe,
She recalled her father’s vow and was greatly agitated.
When her companions saw Sita so overcome by love,
They cried in alarm, ‘It is growing late!’
‘We’ll come again tomorrow, at this same time,’
Said one of her friends, smiling to herself.
Hearing these words, so full of meaning, Sita grew abashed.
‘It is late,’ she said, afraid of her mother.
With great resolve, and holding the image of Ram in her heart,
She turned away, knowing herself to be under her father’s command.
Yet, on the pretext of looking at a deer, a bird, a tree,
She looked back again and again—
As she gazed again and again upon Raghubir’s beauty,
Her love grew ever stronger.
(234)
Knowing how unyielding was the bow of Shiv, she left, grieving,
Holding in her heart his dark form.
When the Lord realized that Janaki,
Who held within her all happiness, love, beauty and virtue, was going,
He made of his great love a gentle ink
And inscribed her upon the tablet of his mind.
Sita returned to Bhavani’s shrine
And offering homage at her feet, she said, with folded hands,
‘All glory to you, daughter of the king of the mountains,
Glory to you, who adores Mahesh as the chakor does the moon,
Glory to you, mother of Ganesh the elephant-faced one, and of Skand of the six faces—
Mother of the universe, with body as bright as lightning!
You have no beginning, no middle and no end,
And even the Vedas do not understand your infinite power.
The cause of the birth, the continuation and the dissolution of the universe,
You enchant and captivate all creation, and amuse yourself as you please.
Amongst all faithful wives,
Mother, you have first place.
Even a thousand Sharadas and Sheshnags
Cannot narrate your immeasurable glory.
(235)
Serving you, the four rewards of existence are easy to attain,
Giver of boons and the beloved of Purari!
Worshipping your lotus feet, devi,
Gods, men and munis all find bliss.
You know well my heart’s desire,
For you dwell eternally in every heart,
And this is the reason that I have not said it aloud.’
So saying, Vaidehi clasped her feet.
Bhavani was moved by Sita’s humility and love—
A garland slipped from her image and it smiled.
Sita received the gift with great reverence.
Then spoke Gauri, her heart full of joy,
‘Listen, Sita, to my blessing true:
Your heart’s desire will be fulfilled.
Narad’s words are always pure and true—
You will get the bridegroom upon whom your heart is set.
You will get the one your heart adores,
That sweet-natured, hand
some, dark bridegroom.
He is compassionate and all-wise
And knows your virtue and your love.’
Hearing Gauri’s blessing,
Sita’s friends rejoiced with her,
Paying homage to Bhavani again and again,
Sita, says Tulsi, returned home, glad at heart.
Knowing Gauri to be so well-disposed and gracious,
Sita’s heart was so full of joy as cannot be described.
An omen of good fortune and bliss,
Her left side began to tremble.
(236)
Admiring Sita’s beauty in their hearts,
The two brothers returned to their guru.
Ram told Kaushik everything,
For his inherent nature was straightforward and honest, without even a touch of deceit.
Taking the flowers, the muni performed the puja
And then blessed the two brothers—
‘May your heart’s desires be fulfilled.’
Hearing this, Ram and Lakshman were overjoyed.
After his meal, the great and learned muni
Began to relate some ancient tales.
When the day was ended, and with their guru’s permission,
The two brothers went to perform their evening rites.
A beautiful moon rose in the east—
Thinking that it resembled Sita’s lovely face, Ram was glad,
But reflecting upon it further, he thought,
‘That cold moon has no resemblance to Sita’s countenance at all!
Born of the ocean, with poison as its brother,73
Pale and dim by day, with marks and blemishes upon its face—
How can that poor and wretched moon
Be compared to Sita’s face?
(237)
He wanes and waxes and makes miserable women separated from their lovers,
And Rahu, if in conjunction, seizes and swallows him.
The cause of the kok’s sorrow and the enemy of the lotus—
Moon, you have many flaws!
To compare Vaidehi’s face to you
Is very wrong and completely inappropriate.’
Finding in the moon a pretext to praise Sita’s beauty,
He returned to his guru, seeing that the night was far advanced.
He saluted the muni’s lotus feet
And receiving his permission, lay down to rest.
When the night had passed, Raghunayak awoke,
Looked at his brother, and began to speak thus:
‘Look, brother, it is dawn,
That delights the lotus, the kok birds, and all the world.’
Lakshman, folding his hands, replied
In sweet words declaring the majesty of his Lord,
‘With the rising of the sun
The water-lily closes its petals and the light of the stars grows dim.
Even so, hearing of your coming,
The other princes will become powerless.
(238)
The other princes are like stars and give off light,
But they cannot dispel the deep darkness that is Shiv’s mighty bow.
Just as lotuses, bees, the kok and various other birds
Rejoice at the ending of the night,
In the same manner, Lord, all your devotees
Will rejoice at the breaking of the bow.
The sun rises, and the dark is effortlessly destroyed,
The stars are obscured and the world is filled with glorious light.
The sun, on the pretext of its own rising, Raghurai,
Has shown your splendour and glory to all the princes.
This breaking of the bow been arranged only
To reveal the greatness of the might of your arms.’
The Lord smiled at his brother’s words.
Then, though inherently pure, he performed the morning rituals of purification and bathed.
After performing his daily rites of prayer and worship, he went to his guru
And bowed his handsome head at his lotus feet.
Then Janak summoned the sage Shatanand, his family priest,
And sent him immediately to Muni Kaushik.
He came and related Janak’s humble entreaty,
And Vishvamitra, rejoicing, called the two brothers.
After touching Shatanand’s feet,
The Lord sat down by his guru.
Then the muni said, ‘Come, dear son, let’s go,
For King Janak has sent for us.
(239)
Let us go and see Sita’s svayamvar
And whom God will give the glory.’
Lakshman said, ‘The glory of breaking the bow, lord,
Can belong only to the one upon whom your favour falls.’
The sages all were was pleased to hear these noble words
And rejoicing, gave their blessings.
Then, together with the whole company of ascetics, the compassionate one
Set off to the place of the bow ceremony.
‘The two brothers have reached the arena!’
When the townspeople heard this news,
They abandoned their homes and their chores and came running,
Young and old, children, men and women.
Janak, seeing the thronging crowds,
Called for his trusted servants and said,
‘Go at once to all the people
And show each one to a suitable seat.’
With soft and gentle words,
They courteously seated the men and women.
The high, the middle, the low and the humble—
All were given seats appropriate to their station.
(240)
At that very moment, the princes arrived—
It seemed that beauty itself had taken up abode in their bodies.
Endowed with every virtue, well-bred and intelligent, noble heroes both,
They were handsome and charming, one dark, the other fair.
The two handsome princes shone brightly amongst the gathered nobles
Like two full moons amidst stars;
The people gathered there saw the form of the Lord
In accordance with their faith.
The brave and gallant warriors, gazing upon his form,
Saw Valour itself as having taken bodily form.
The wicked and cruel kings looked upon the Lord afraid,
For they perceived him as Dread embodied.
And then there were the Asurs deceitfully disguised as kings—
They perceived the Lord as the manifestation of death itself.
The residents of the town saw the two brothers
As the jewels of mankind that please and delight the eyes.
The women gazed upon them, rejoicing in their hearts
And each perceiving in them what she fancied most,
As though charming Passion had taken on
A form singular and incomparable.
(241)
To the wise and learned, the Lord appeared in all his divine splendour
With many faces, hands, feet, eyes and heads.
And how did Janak’s clan and family see him?
As noble and beloved as a kinsman.
The queen, with Videha’s king,
Gazed upon him with deep and indescribable love as on a child.
To the yogis he appeared as the Supreme Truth,
Calm, pure, complete and shining with innate radiance.
The devotees of Hari saw the two brothers
As their own beloved Lord, the giver of all happiness.
But the love and joy with which Sita gazed at Ram—
That is impossible to describe.
She could not express the love and joy she was feeling in her heart,
So how can any poet do so?
In this way, according to their own inherent dispositions,
Each one saw the Lord of Koshal.
Resplendent in the assembly of kings,
Were the youthful sons
of the king of Koshal,
Handsome and charming, one dark, the other fair,
Stealing the eyes of the world.
(242)
Their two forms were so inherently charming,
That comparison with even a million gods of love falls short.
Their radiant faces put to shame the autumn moon,
And their lotus eyes delight the heart.
Their charming glances win even the mind of Mar himself
And so please the heart as cannot be described.
With soft cheeks, and shining earrings,
Handsome chins, perfect lips and sweet voices,
With radiant smiles that put moonbeams to shame,
Curving eyebrows and heart-enchanting noses,
Broad foreheads with gleaming tilaks,
Hair so dark and curling that even the black bees are abashed,
And, adorning their heads, yellow, four-cornered caps
Embroidered with flower-buds,
With shapely necks marked with three pleasing lines like a conch shell
As if declaring them to be the extreme of beauty in all the three worlds,
Around their necks beautiful necklaces of elephant-pearls,
A garland of tulsi leaves upon their breasts,
With the shoulders of a bull and the stance of a lion,
And long arms endowed with great strength,
(243)
Around their waists, quivers tied with yellow sashes,
With arrows in hand, bows on their strong and handsome left shoulders,
And shining yellow sacred threads,
Handsome and comely in every part, they were filled with beauty from head to toe.
Seeing them, everyone grew happy and blissful
And gazed at them unblinking, so that even the pupils of their eyes did not move.
Janak, too, rejoiced to see the two brothers.
Then, going to the muni, he clasped his lotus feet.
Paying him homage, he related to him his own story,74
And showed him around the whole arena.
Wherever the two handsome princes went,
Everyone looked upon them with wonder.
Each one saw Ram’s face turned towards him,
Yet no one realized the divine mystery behind this.
‘Excellent arrangements,’ the muni said to the king,
And the king was delighted and took great pleasure in his praise.