Ramcharitmanas: Ayodhya Kanda, Prakarana 4
दोहा 38
त्याग-दीक्षा का सोपान: जहाँ ‘राज्य’ (भोग-धर्म) का मोह टूटकर ‘वन’ (वैराग्य-धर्म) का द्वार खुलता है। अयोध्या काण्ड साधक को यह सिखाता है कि धर्म केवल शुभ-घटना नहीं, बल्कि पीड़ा में सत्य-पालन, वचन-रक्षा, और ईश्वर-आज्ञा-स्वीकार की तपस्या है—यही मुक्ति-सीढ़ी का निर्णायक मोड़ है।
परी न राजहि नीद निसि हेतु जान जगदीसु।रामु रामु रटि भोरु किय कहइ न मरमु महीसु।।38।।
parī na rājahi nīda nisi hetu jāna jagadīsu |rāmu rāmu raṭi bhoru kiya kahai na maramu mahīsu ||38||
राजा को रात भर नींद नहीं आई। वजह सिर्फ भगवान जानते हैं। वो रात भर राम राम कहते रहे और सुबह हो गई। राजा अपना राज किसी को नहीं बताते।
Speaker
Tulsidas (narrator)
Listener
General audience
Karuna (with Vatsalya undertone)
The scene
The prasanga
Morning has come after the night of Kaikeyi's demands. Sumantra has found King Dasharatha in distress and not speaking. The narrator tells that the king lay awake all night, kept repeating Rama's name until dawn, and still does not disclose his secret.
The teaching
- Themes
- राम-नाम का आश्रय, पिता का पुत्र-वियोग और विषाद, वचन-पालन की मर्यादा, मौन वेदना और धैर्य, ईश्वर की सर्वज्ञता, राजा की विवशता
For right living (Ramrajya ethics)
The verse shows a ruler bound by his given word, who bears his sorrow in silence rather than break his vow or shame another. It shows the cost of keeping dharma and the primacy of satya, and that private anguish is not given as public complaint.
Nirguna and saguna
The king's own beloved son Rama is the one he calls on, yet the same call is addressed to the Name which also reaches the Lord of the world (जगदीसु) as the all-knowing witness. In this way the manifest Rama and the universal Lord are held together in one cry.
Tulsidas says that King Dasharatha could not sleep through the night and that the true cause is known only to the Lord of the world. All night he kept repeating 'Rama, Rama' until dawn came. Even now the lord of the earth does not reveal the secret that burdens him. Commentators read here the king's love for Rama, his helpless silence bound by his promise, and the Name as his only comfort. The contrast between महीसु and जगदीसु shows that a king's sorrow is finally known to God alone.
Doha (13/11 matra pattern per line; line 1: परी न राजहि नीद निसि = 13, हेतु जान जगदीसु = 11; line 2: रामु रामु रटि भोरु किय = 13, कहइ न मरमु महीसु = 11; the line ends rhyme in -ईसु: जगदीसु / महीसु)
Punarukti or Veepsa in 'रामु रामु' (repetition showing ceaseless recitation); Anuprasa in the repeated 'र' and 'म' sounds (रामु रामु रटि, मरमु महीसु); Antyanuprasa (end rhyme) in जगदीसु / महीसु; Virodhabhasa-like contrast between महीसु (lord of the earth) who is helpless and जगदीसु (lord of the world) who knows all.
Dasharatha's repeated 'Rama, Rama' in his grief points to a Vishishtadvaita-leaning devotion in which the soul clings to the Lord as its only support. The phrase 'only the Lord of the world knows' (जान जगदीसु) places the inner witness, Ishvara, above all human explanation.
Raga Todi (or Ahir Bhairav), suited to the grave, sleepless, pre-dawn mood of grief and inward prayer.
परी | न | राजहि | नीद | निसि | हेतु | जान | जगदीसु |
रामु | रामु | रटि | भोरु | किय | कहइ | न | मरमु | महीसु ||
- नीद
- नींद, निद्राOrigin: Awadhi
- निसि
- रात्रि, रातOrigin: Sanskrit
- हेतु
- कारण, वजहOrigin: Sanskrit
- भोरु
- प्रभात, सवेराOrigin: Awadhi
- मरमु
- रहस्य, गुप्त भेद, भीतरी बातOrigin: Sanskrit
- How does the use of Sanskritized Awadhi here elevate the 'Loka' (folk) to the 'Shastra' (scriptural)?
- The verse is built on plain Awadhi sleeplessness and speech, as in 'परी न राजहि नीद' and 'कहइ न मरमु'. It sets beside these the Sanskrit-derived words जगदीसु, हेतु, मरमु and महीसु, which carry scriptural weight. The homely fact of a king awake at night is thereby raised to a statement about the omniscient Lord who alone knows the cause. The pairing महीसु and जगदीसु also brings in the Shastric idea of a human sovereign under the divine sovereign. Folk idiom and learned vocabulary therefore work together in a single doha.
- What is the specific 'Siddhanta' (doctrine) Tulsidas establishes regarding the Name (Nama) vs Form (Rupa)?
- Here the king's beloved Rama, the Form, is not at hand, yet the Name 'Rama, Rama' fills the whole night and brings him to dawn (रामु रामु रटि भोरु किय). The Name acts as the support in the Form's absence and holds the sufferer when speech about the matter fails. This reflects the Manas doctrine that the Name is a refuge as real as the Form and is reachable at all times. The verse itself states only the repetition and its sustaining effect, and does not argue the doctrine in terms. The Name therefore appears as the lasting presence of the beloved Lord.
- How does this verse reflect the poet's 'Kavi-Manas' (the lake of the poet's mind) metaphor?
- The poet's mind here is a still, deep water that does not break the surface with what the king hides. Tulsidas declines to name the secret and says only 'हेतु जान जगदीसु', so the depth stays hidden, as the lake's bottom does. The surface shows only the rhythmic ripple of 'रामु रामु' repeated through the night. The verse thus gives the outward sign (sleeplessness and recitation) while the inner cause remains unseen. This restraint matches the Manas conception of a mind in which devotion is the clear water and unspoken grief lies beneath it.
FAQs
दोहे के अनुसार राजा को सारी रात नींद नहीं आई। वे 'राम राम' रटते हुए ही भोर तक जागते रहे। वे अपने मन का रहस्य किसी से नहीं कहते, यह उनकी गहरी वेदना और विवशता को दिखाता है।
इसका संकेत है कि राजा की नींद उड़ने का असली कारण केवल जगत के स्वामी भगवान ही जानते हैं। कवि कारण को खोलकर नहीं कहते और उसे ईश्वर की सर्वज्ञता पर छोड़ देते हैं। इससे राजा का दुख मनुष्य की पहुँच से परे और अत्यंत गहरा लगता है।
विषाद की इस रात में राजा का एकमात्र सहारा राम-नाम है, जिसे वे बार-बार रटते हैं। 'रामु रामु' की पुनरुक्ति से निरंतर जप और पुत्र के प्रति अगाध प्रेम दोनों झलकते हैं। इस प्रकार संकट में नाम ही मन को थामने वाला आश्रय बनता है।
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