Ramcharitmanas: Ayodhya Kanda, Prakarana 7
चौपाई 69.1-4
This Sopāna marks the soul’s initiation into Tyāga-yoga: dharma is no longer an ideal but a lived renunciation. Ayodhya—symbol of ordered consciousness—witnesses the wrenching shift from ‘gṛha’ (secure, scripted duty) to ‘vana’ (austere, unscripted surrender). The staircase-step here is Vairāgya tempered by Prem: the devotee learns that love does not cancel duty; it sanctifies separation, hardship, and obedience into bhakti-sādhana.
लखि सनेह कातरि महतारी।बचनु न आव बिकल भइ भारी।।
राम प्रबोधु कीन्ह बिधि नाना।समउ सनेहु न जाइ बखाना।।
तब जानकी सासु पग लागी।सुनिअ माय मैं परम अभागी।।
सेवा समय दैअँ बनु दीन्हा।मोर मनोरथु सफल न कीन्हा।।
तजब छोभु जनि छाड़िअ छोहू।करमु कठिन कछु दोसु न मोहू।।
सुनि सिय बचन सासु अकुलानी।दसा कवनि बिधि कहौं बखानी।।
बारहि बार लाइ उर लीन्ही।धरि धीरजु सिख आसिष दीन्ही।।
अचल होउ अहिवातु तुम्हारा।जब लगि गंग जमुन जल धारा।।
lakhi saneha kātari mahatārī |bacanu na āva bikala bhai bhārī ||
rāma prabodhu kīnha bidhi nānā |samau sanehu na jāi bakhānā ||
taba jānakī sāsu paga lāgī |sunia māya maiṁ parama abhāgī ||
sevā samaya daiã banu dīnhā |mora manorathu saphala na kīnhā ||
tajaba chobhu jani chāṛia chohū |karamu kaṭhina kachu dosu na mohū ||
suni siya bacana sāsu akulānī |dasā kavani bidhi kahauṁ bakhānī ||
bārahi bāra lāi ura līnhī |dhari dhīraju sikha āsiṣa dīnhī ||
acala hou ahivātu tumhārā |jaba lagi gaṁga jamuna jala dhārā ||
देखा कि माँ प्यार से ऐसी भर गई कि बोल नहीं पा रही थी, और बोहोत परेशान हो गई थी। राम ने उन्हें कई तरह से समझाया और तसल्ली दी। उस वक्त का प्यार काफी था, अलग से बता नहीं सकता। फिर सीता ने सासू माँ के पैर छूए और कहा, सुनो माँ, मैं बोहोत बुरी किस्मत वाली हूँ। जबकि मैं आपकी सेवा करने का मौका मिलना चाहिए था, दौर ने मुझे जंगल दे दिया। मेरा दिल की ख्वाहिश पूरी नहीं हुई। अपना दुख छोड़ दो, पर मुझसे अपना प्यार मत छोड़ना। किस्मत का लिखा कठिन है, इसमे मेरी कोई गलती नहीं। सीता की बात सुनकर सासू माँ भी भर आ गई। उनकी हालत कैसे शब्दों में बताऊँ? बार बार सीता को सीने से लगाया, फिर हिम्मत करके उन्हें समझाया और आशीर्वाद दिया। उन्होंने कहा, तुम्हारा सुहाग कभी न टूटे, जब तक गंगा और यमुना का पानी बहा रहता है।
Speaker
Tulsidas (narrator) for lines 1, 2, 6 and 7; Sita in lines 3 to 5; Rama's mother in line 8
Listener
General audience; within the scene, Sita addresses her mother-in-law and she addresses Sita
Karuna (with Vatsalya and a touch of Dasya in Sita's humility)
The scene
The prasanga
Before Rama, Sita and Lakshmana leave for the forest, Rama's mother is speechless with grief and Rama consoles her in many ways. Sita then bows at her mother-in-law's feet, asks her not to withdraw her affection, and receives an embrace and the blessing of lasting married good fortune.
The teaching
- Themes
- मातृ-स्नेह और वियोग, सास-बहू का आदर्श संबंध, सीता की विनम्रता और सेवा-भाव, कर्म और दैव की प्रबलता, धैर्य और आशीर्वाद, शब्दातीत करुण भाव
For right living (Ramrajya ethics)
The verse upholds family dharma: a daughter-in-law's wish to serve her elders, an elder's duty to bless and steady the young with courage and counsel, and the refusal to blame others for what fate ordains. Affection (छोहू) is to be kept alive even in separation.
Nirguna and saguna
The unseen workings of fate and karma are made present through the tender, embodied actions of Rama consoling, Sita bowing and the mother embracing. The saguna family scene is the very place where the transcendent order is felt, and the unbounded Ganga and Yamuna are invoked as the measure of the blessing.
Seeing his mother choked with love and unable to speak, Rama consoles her in many ways, and the poet says the tenderness of that moment is beyond description. Sita then falls at her mother-in-law's feet, calls herself unfortunate because fate sends her to the forest just when she should be serving, and asks that grief be given up but affection kept, since the hardness of fate is no fault of hers. Hearing this, the mother is overwhelmed, and the poet again confesses his inability to describe her state. She clasps Sita to her heart again and again, steadies herself and gives counsel. She ends with the blessing that Sita's married good fortune stay unshaken as long as the Ganga and Yamuna flow.
Chaupai (16 matras per line, with the verse's eight lines each in the 16/16 half-line pattern, e.g. लखि सनेह कातरि महतारी = 16 matras)
Anirvachaniya (inexpressibility): समउ सनेहु न जाइ बखाना and दसा कवनि बिधि कहौं बखानी, where the poet declares the moment beyond words; Prashna (rhetorical question): दसा कवनि बिधि कहौं बखानी; Vipsa (repetition for intensity): बारहि बार, showing repeated embraces; Atishayokti (hyperbole of duration): जब लगि गंग जमुन जल धारा, a blessing lasting as long as the rivers flow; Anupras (alliteration): the repeated स and क sounds in सेवा समय, सफल, कीन्हा, कठिन, कछु
Sita blames hard karma and fate (करमु कठिन, दैअँ) while claiming no fault of her own, which fits the Vishishtadvaita view of the soul as bound by karma yet dependent on the Lord's will. Rama's gentle consolation shows the Lord as an intimate, embodied sustainer of his devotees and not an impersonal absolute.
Raga Bhairavi, whose tender, plaintive character suits a scene of parting, restrained grief and a mother's blessing.
लखि | सनेह | कातरि | महतारी | बचनु | न | आव | बिकल | भइ | भारी ||
राम | प्रबोधु | कीन्ह | बिधि | नाना | समउ | सनेहु | न | जाइ | बखाना ||
तब | जानकी | सासु | पग | लागी | सुनिअ | माय | मैं | परम | अभागी ||
सेवा | समय | दैअँ | बनु | दीन्हा | मोर | मनोरथु | सफल | न | कीन्हा ||
तजब | छोभु | जनि | छाड़िअ | छोहू | करमु | कठिन | कछु | दोसु | न | मोहू ||
सुनि | सिय | बचन | सासु | अकुलानी | दसा | कवनि | बिधि | कहौं | बखानी ||
बारहि | बार | लाइ | उर | लीन्ही | धरि | धीरजु | सिख | आसिष | दीन्ही ||
अचल | होउ | अहिवातु | तुम्हारा | जब | लगि | गंग | जमुन | जल-धारा ||
- कातरि
- व्याकुल, भावावेश से विह्वलOrigin: Sanskrit
- प्रबोधु
- समझाना, सांत्वना देनाOrigin: Sanskrit
- अभागी
- जिसका भाग्य अच्छा न हो, भाग्यहीनOrigin: Awadhi
- छोहू
- स्नेह, ममताOrigin: Awadhi
- अहिवातु
- सुहाग, पति के जीवित रहने का सौभाग्यOrigin: Awadhi
- How does the use of Sanskritized Awadhi here elevate the 'Loka' (folk) to the 'Shastra' (scriptural)?
- The verse is built on homely Awadhi words such as महतारी, सासु, माय, पग लागी and धरि धीरजु, which carry the speech of an ordinary household. Beside them stand tatsama and near-Sanskrit terms such as प्रबोधु, मनोरथु, सफल, परम, दोसु, करमु and अहिवातु. These bring the vocabulary of scripture, karma and auspicious wifehood into a family farewell. Thus a mother's embrace and a bride's plea acquire the weight of dharma, and the folk scene is lifted to a scriptural level without losing its warmth.
- What is the specific 'Siddhanta' (doctrine) Tulsidas establishes regarding the Name (Nama) vs Form (Rupa)?
- This verse does not state the Nama-Rupa doctrine outright, and it should not be read as doing so. It does show the Form (Rupa) at work: Rama, named in राम प्रबोधु कीन्ह, is a present, embodied comforter, and the Lord acts through a visible person. It also shows the power of the spoken word, since Sita's बचन and the elder's आसिष are words that move hearts and carry blessing, as in अचल होउ अहिवातु तुम्हारा. In this way the verse illustrates the Manas view that the divine is encountered both in the embodied form and in the word spoken in love, and that the two work together.
- How does this verse reflect the poet's 'Kavi-Manas' (the lake of the poet's mind) metaphor?
- The Manas is imagined as a lake fed by streams of devotion, and here the narrator's mind is visibly stirred by the scene. He steps into the narrative to confess that the moment cannot be put into words (न जाइ बखाना, कहौं बखानी), as if the lake's depth exceeds the poet's speech. The closing image of the Ganga and Yamuna waters (जल धारा) echoes this picture of flowing streams, which here carry a blessing and not a bathing-ghat. The emotion of the lines, from speechless grief to courage gathered (धरि धीरजु), is thus presented as water settling into stillness in the poet's own mind.
FAQs
माता को स्नेह से व्याकुल और बोलने में असमर्थ देखकर राम अनेक प्रकार से उन्हें समझाते हैं (राम प्रबोधु कीन्ह बिधि नाना)। तुलसीदास कहते हैं कि उस समय का स्नेह वर्णन से परे है (समउ सनेहु न जाइ बखाना)।
सीता स्वयं को परम अभागी कहती हैं, क्योंकि सेवा के समय ही दैव ने वन दे दिया और मनोरथ पूरा नहीं हुआ। वे प्रार्थना करती हैं कि सास शोक छोड़ दें पर स्नेह न छोड़ें, क्योंकि कर्म कठिन है और इसमें उनका कोई दोष नहीं।
सास बार-बार सीता को हृदय से लगाती हैं, धैर्य धरकर उन्हें शिक्षा और आशीष देती हैं। वे कहती हैं कि जब तक गंगा और यमुना का जल बहता रहे, तब तक तुम्हारा अहिवात अचल रहे। यह आशीर्वाद सीता के अखंड सौभाग्य और सास के गहरे स्नेह को दिखाता है।
Ask anything about this verse
Answers come straight from the texts, with the shlokas they draw on. Ask in your own words.
A free sign-in with Google or Apple keeps your chat saved across web and the app.
Read Ramcharitmanas in the Vedapath app
Scan the QR code to open this directly in the app, with word-by-word meanings, Awadhi recitation where available, and more.
