Ramcharitmanas: Ayodhya Kanda, Prakarana 13
दोहा 121
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।
अबला बालक बृद्ध जन कर मीजहिं पछिताहिं।होहिं प्रेमबस लोग इमि रामु जहाँ जहँ जाहिं।।121।।
abalā bālaka bṛddha jana kara mījahiṁ pachitāhiṁ |hohiṁ premabasa loga imi rāmu jahā̃ jahã jāhiṁ ||121||
औरतें, बच्चे और बूढ़े लोग हाथ मलते हैं और दुखी होते हैं. जहाँ जहाँ राम जाते हैं, लोग वैसे ही प्रेम में डूब जाते हैं.
Speaker
Tulsidas (narrator)
Listener
General audience
Karuna (with Vatsalya and Madhurya undertones)
The scene
The prasanga
Rama is journeying away from Ayodhya toward the forest in exile, and the poet describes how the people of the countryside respond to him. The women, children and aged who cannot follow him wring their hands in regret, and the same pattern of love repeats at every place he passes.
The teaching
- Themes
- प्रेम की विवशता, रामवियोग का दुःख, अबला बालक वृद्ध की करुणा, लोकप्रियता और जनसमर्थन, रामराज्य का आधार स्नेह, वनगमन
For right living (Ramrajya ethics)
The verse shows that true kingship, even in exile, is measured by the love of the weakest: women, children and the aged. A righteous ruler is one whose very departure is felt as personal loss by every section of society, and this affection for him is the real basis of Ramrajya.
Nirguna and saguna
The One who is beyond form walks the roads as the visible Rama, and the verse shows the formless principle acting through the manifest person: his mere passing, "जहाँ जहँ जाहिं", makes love arise in every heart. The pervasive pull of the Absolute becomes concrete and local in the figure of a travelling prince.
Tulsidas says that women, children and the aged who cannot follow Rama wring their hands and grieve. Wherever Rama goes, the people are overcome with love, and the poet states this as a settled pattern with the word "इमि". Commentators note that the weakest are named first because their helpless love is the purest proof of Rama's pull on all hearts. The double "जहाँ जहँ" stresses that this response is not local but happens at every place he passes.
Doha (13/11 matra pattern in each line, rhyming at the line ends: पछिताहिं / जाहिं). Line 1: अबला बालक बृद्ध जन (13) + कर मीजहिं पछिताहिं (11). Line 2: होहिं प्रेमबस लोग इमि (13) + रामु जहाँ जहँ जाहिं (11).
Veepsa or punarukti in "जहाँ जहँ" (repetition showing 'everywhere'); Anupras (alliteration) in the repeated ज and ह sounds, and in "बालक बृद्ध" and "मीजहिं पछिताहिं"; Svabhavokti in the natural gesture "कर मीजहिं"; Gananaa or enumeration in the trio "अबला बालक बृद्ध जन"; Yamak-like end-rhyme in "पछिताहिं / जाहिं".
The verse fits Vishishtadvaita: Rama is the Lord with form, and the souls (jiva), here the ordinary villagers, are drawn to him by love that is helpless, not argued. Prema (premabasa) is shown as the natural response of the individual self to its inner Lord, who is both the object and the cause of that attraction.
Raga Bhairavi, whose tender, plaintive character suits the grief and helpless love of the villagers; it is also a traditional closing raga for devotional recitation.
अबला | बालक | बृद्ध | जन | कर | मीजहिं | पछिताहिं |
होहिं | प्रेम-बस | लोग | इमि | रामु | जहाँ | जहँ | जाहिं ||
- अबला
- स्त्री; जिसमें बल न हो, कमज़ोर नारीOrigin: Sanskrit
- बृद्ध
- बूढ़ा, वयोवृद्ध व्यक्तिOrigin: Sanskrit
- मीजहिं
- मलते हैं, रगड़ते हैं (पछतावे में हाथ मलना)Origin: Awadhi
- पछिताहिं
- पछताते हैं, शोक और खेद करते हैंOrigin: Awadhi
- प्रेमबस
- प्रेम के वश में, प्रेम से विवशOrigin: Sanskrit
- How does the use of Sanskritized Awadhi here elevate the 'Loka' (folk) to the 'Shastra' (scriptural)?
- The verse is built from plain Awadhi words (कर मीजहिं, पछिताहिं, जहँ जहँ), yet it carries Sanskrit-derived terms such as अबला, बृद्ध and प्रेमबस, so the folk gesture of wringing hands sits beside learned vocabulary. This blend lets a village scene take on the weight of scriptural teaching about prema. The thatched, everyday action of the people is raised to a model of devotion without losing its natural sound. The reader hears the folk speech and the Shastra together in a single line.
- What is the specific 'Siddhanta' (doctrine) Tulsidas establishes regarding the Name (Nama) vs Form (Rupa)?
- The verse does not state a theory of Nama and Rupa directly, but it shows both at work. The Name रामु is the subject of the second line, and the people's love is aroused wherever he goes in person, so the Name is known through the Form that moves among them. Love comes first by sight and presence, as in "जहाँ जहँ जाहिं", and this fits Tulsidas's broader view that the Name and the Form are bound together. Here the emphasis is on Form made present, drawing hearts that the Name already holds.
- How does this verse reflect the poet's 'Kavi-Manas' (the lake of the poet's mind) metaphor?
- In the Kavi-Manas image the poem is a lake whose waters are the emotions of the characters, and this verse is a ripple on its shore where the common people gather. The poet looks not at the heroes but at the weak, "अबला बालक बृद्ध जन", and lets their small gesture of grief stand for the whole country's love. The repetition "जहाँ जहँ" widens the ripple until it touches every bank. The verse thus shows the lake of the poet's mind as compassionate, taking in all the people, not only the great.
FAQs
दोहे के अनुसार अबला (स्त्रियाँ), बालक और बृद्ध जन हाथ मलते और पछताते हैं। ये वे लोग हैं जो राम के साथ नहीं जा सकते, इसलिए उनका दुःख और भी गहरा है।
यह पुनरुक्ति (वीप्सा) बताती है कि राम जिस-जिस स्थान पर जाते हैं, हर जगह वही प्रेम और वही विवशता दिखती है। इससे प्रेम का सर्वव्यापी और निरंतर होना प्रकट होता है, यह किसी एक गाँव तक सीमित नहीं है।
यह दोहा बताता है कि सच्चा शासक वही है जिसे समाज के सबसे कमज़ोर वर्ग, स्त्रियाँ, बच्चे और वृद्ध, भी हृदय से चाहते हैं। राम के वन जाने पर भी प्रजा का यह प्रेम दिखाता है कि रामराज्य की नींव दंड पर नहीं, स्नेह और विश्वास पर टिकी है।
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