Shloka 4.30.48
शरत्प्रवेशे रामविलापः तथा सुग्रीवप्रमादे लक्ष्मणप्रेषणम् (Autumn’s Onset: Rama’s Lament and Lakshmana Sent to Sugriva)
सुप्तैकहंसं कुमुदैरुपेतंमहाह्रदस्थं सलिलं विभाति।घनैर्विमुक्तं निशि पूर्णचन्द्रंतारागणाकीर्णमिवान्तरिक्षम्।।
suptaikahaṃsaṃ kumudair upetaṃ mahāhradasthaṃ salilaṃ vibhāti |
ghanair vimuktaṃ niśi pūrṇacandraṃ tārāgaṇākīrṇam ivāntarikṣam ||
The water of the great lake—adorned with night-lotuses and holding a single swan asleep—shines like the night sky, freed of clouds, with the full moon and strewn with stars.
'With a single swan in sleep night lotuses blooming around it, the water in the big tank appear like the sky free from clouds with the full Moon and clusters of stars scattered. (The swan is the moon, the lotuses the stars and the clean pond the sky).
It points to truth as clarity: when ‘clouds’ (confusion) are absent, reality reflects cleanly. Dharma is maintaining a mind like a clear lake—capable of truthful reflection.
A serene autumn night landscape is described, using a lake-to-sky comparison to intensify the atmosphere around Rama’s vigil.
Prasāda (lucid calm): a settled, transparent inner state that supports right judgment.