Ramcharitmanas: Ayodhya Kanda, Prakarana 13
Doha 127
त्याग और आज्ञापालन का सोपान: राजधर्म के शिखर से वनगमन का अवरोह, जहाँ ‘लोक-मान्यता’ (जन-प्रेम) और ‘आत्म-निवेदन’ (ईश्वर-इच्छा) एक हो जाते हैं। यह चरण साधक को सिखाता है कि प्रियतम-धर्म (राम) का अनुसरण बाह्य सुख-सुविधा से ऊपर है; करुणा, शील और मर्यादा ही मुक्ति-पथ की पहली वास्तविक सीढ़ी है।
पूँछेहु मोहि कि रहौं कहँ मैं पूँछत सकुचाउँ।जहँ न होहु तहँ देहु कहि तुम्हहि देखावौं ठाउँ।।127।।
pū̃chehu mohi ki rahauṁ kahã maiṁ pū̃chata sakucāũ |jahã na hohu tahã dehu kahi tumhahi dekhāvauṁ ṭhāũ ||127||
Du fragst mich, wo du weilen sollst, und ich scheue mich, dich im Gegenzug zu fragen. Nenne mir den Ort, wo du nicht bist, und ich werde dir dort einen Ort zeigen.
Speaker
Valmiki
Listener
Rama
Shanta and Dasya with a tender, playful undertone of reverent wonder (Adbhuta)
The scene
The prasanga
Rama, in exile, has asked the sage Valmiki to name a place where he may dwell with Sita and Lakshmana. Valmiki, who has just praised Rama as the all-pervading Lord who only plays at being human, answers with a gently teasing counter-challenge before going on to name the real dwellings.
The teaching
- Themes
- सर्वव्यापक ईश्वर, संत की विनम्रता, शिष्टाचार और मर्यादा, भगवान का मानव रूप, वनवास में आश्रय, भक्त-हृदय में निवास
For right living (Ramrajya ethics)
Valmiki shows courtesy, humility and tact: he answers a question from a king's son with respect, his hesitation (sakucau) displaying the modesty proper to a sage. The verse also teaches that the true home of the Lord is not a site but a devoted heart, a principle on which the ideal ruler's dwelling rests.
Nirguna and saguna
The questioner is the embodied Rama who asks for lodging (saguna), yet the sage's reply makes him the one who exists in every place (nirguna, all-pervasive). Both are held in a single exchange, as the same Rama is a guest and the owner of every dwelling.
Rama has asked Valmiki to name a dwelling for him. Valmiki says he is embarrassed to pose the question in return, then does so in the form of a challenge: show me a place where you are not, and I will point out a home there. The remark gently reveals that Rama is the all-pervading Lord who has taken human form, so no spot exists that is outside him. Traditional commentators read this as the sage's affectionate wit, a preparation for his naming of the hearts of true devotees as Rama's real abode.
Doha (13/11 matra pattern per line, with rhyme at the line ends: सकुचाउँ / ठाउँ). Line 1 breaks after 'रहौं कहँ' and line 2 after 'देहु कहि' in the traditional reading.
Vakrokti and Vyajokti (the teasing counter-challenge 'जहँ न होहु तहँ देहु कहि' expresses Rama's omnipresence indirectly); Anupras (repeated sounds in 'पूँछेहु', 'पूँछत', 'सकुचाउँ' and the echo of 'जहँ... तहँ'); Vishesha-like paradox in showing a place where the all-pervading Lord is not; Antya-anupras or end rhyme in 'सकुचाउँ' and 'ठाउँ'.
The verse reflects the Vishishtadvaita view that the Lord pervades every place as the inner controller of all beings, while remaining a distinct person who can be asked for and given a home. Valmiki's challenge, 'tell me where you are not', states that omnipresence without denying Rama's personal, questioning form.
Raga Bhairavi, whose gentle, devotional and slightly wistful mood suits the sage's humble, affectionate challenge and the quiet awe of the exchange.
पूँछेहु | मोहि | कि | रहौं | कहँ | मैं | पूँछत | सकुचाउँ |
जहँ | न | होहु | तहँ | देहु | कहि | तुम्हहि | देखावौं | ठाउँ ||
- पूँछेहु
- तुमने पूछाOrigin: Awadhi
- सकुचाउँ
- संकोच करता हूँ, लजाता हूँOrigin: Awadhi
- जहँ
- जहाँOrigin: Awadhi
- देखावौं
- दिखाऊँगा, दिखा दूँOrigin: Awadhi
- ठाउँ
- स्थान, जगहOrigin: Awadhi
- How does the use of Sanskritized Awadhi here elevate the 'Loka' (folk) to the 'Shastra' (scriptural)?
- The diction is plain village Awadhi, with forms such as 'पूँछेहु', 'रहौं', 'सकुचाउँ' and 'देखावौं' and the familiar rhyme on 'ठाउँ'. Yet it carries a Vedantic claim, namely that the Lord is present everywhere, without any technical Sanskrit term for omnipresence. The challenge 'जहँ न होहु' is the folk equivalent of the scriptural idea of the all-pervading Brahman, stated as a simple question a villager could follow. In this way an everyday exchange about finding a house becomes a doctrinal statement, so the Loka voice itself bears Shastra authority.
- What is the specific 'Siddhanta' (doctrine) Tulsidas establishes regarding the Name (Nama) vs Form (Rupa)?
- This verse does not discuss the Name directly, so its doctrine concerns the Form (Rupa) and its relation to the all-pervasive Lord. Rama, visibly present as a person who asks 'रहौं कहँ', is the very one 'जहँ न होहु' cannot be located, so a single embodied form is not confined to its body. By this paradox the saguna Rupa is shown to be a complete manifestation of the one who fills every place. Elsewhere Tulsidas would say that the Name leads to that Form, but here the emphasis falls on the Form being identical with the limitless Lord.
- How does this verse reflect the poet's 'Kavi-Manas' (the lake of the poet's mind) metaphor?
- The Manas metaphor pictures the poem as a lake whose waters are the Rama story, and the verse shows how the lake is filled by conversation between devotees. Valmiki's question and Rama's question flow into each other like streams meeting, the sage's hesitation ('सकुचाउँ') adding a gentle ripple of humility. The verse also prepares for what follows, where the true home of Rama is the heart that holds his story, much as the lake holds its water. The poet's own mind thus mirrors the sage's, both being places where the Lord is invited to stay.
FAQs
वाल्मीकि कहते हैं कि राम ने उनसे पूछा है कि वे कहाँ रहें, और वे उलटा पूछने में संकोच करते हैं। फिर वे कहते हैं कि राम बता दें कि वह कौन सी जगह है जहाँ वे नहीं हैं, तब वे उन्हें रहने का ठिकाना दिखा देंगे।
इससे राम के सर्वव्यापक स्वरूप का संकेत मिलता है। जो हर जगह विद्यमान है, उसके लिए कोई स्थान अलग से नहीं बताया जा सकता। इसी कारण मुनि का प्रश्न विनोद और गहरी भक्ति दोनों को लिए हुए है।
'सकुचाउँ' से पता चलता है कि वाल्मीकि बड़े ज्ञानी होकर भी अत्यंत विनम्र हैं। वे राम को ईश्वर जानते हैं, इसलिए उनसे प्रश्न करने में लज्जा अनुभव करते हैं। यह संतों की मर्यादा और शिष्टाचार का सुंदर उदाहरण है।
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