Ramcharitmanas: Ayodhya Kanda, Prakarana 8
चौपाई 73.1-4
यह सोपान ‘त्याग-धर्म’ का द्वार है: राजसुख के शिखर पर खड़े होकर भी राम-धर्म के लिए स्वेच्छा से वनगमन स्वीकारते हैं। साधक के भीतर यही रूपांतरण घटता है—‘मेरा अधिकार’ से ‘ईश्वर-आज्ञा’ की ओर, तथा गृह-आश्रय से नाम-आश्रय की ओर। अयोध्या यहाँ ‘अहं-गृह’ का प्रतीक भी है; राम का निष्क्रमण वैराग्य नहीं, धर्म-निष्ठा और लोक-कल्याण-हित करुणा है।
मागहु बिदा मातु सन जाई।आवहु बेगि चलहु बन भाई।।
मुदित भए सुनि रघुबर बानी।भयउ लाभ बड़ गइ बड़ि हानी।।
हरषित ह्दयँ मातु पहिं आए।मनहुँ अंध फिरि लोचन पाए।।
जाइ जननि पग नायउ माथा।मनु रघुनंदन जानकि साथा।।
पूँछे मातु मलिन मन देखी।लखन कही सब कथा बिसेषी।।
गई सहमि सुनि बचन कठोरा।मृगी देखि दव जनु चहु ओरा।।
लखन लखेउ भा अनरथ आजू।एहिं सनेह बस करब अकाजू।।
मागत बिदा सभय सकुचाहीं।जाइ संग बिधि कहिहि कि नाही।।
māgahu bidā mātu sana jāī |āvahu begi calahu bana bhāī ||
mudita bhae suni raghubara bānī |bhayau lābha baṛa gai baṛi hānī ||
haraṣita hdayã mātu pahiṁ āe |manahũ aṁdha phiri locana pāe ||
jāi janani paga nāyau māthā |manu raghunaṁdana jānaki sāthā ||
pū̃che mātu malina mana dekhī |lakhana kahī saba kathā biseṣī ||
gaī sahami suni bacana kaṭhorā |mṛgī dekhi dava janu cahu orā ||
lakhana lakheu bhā anaratha ājū |ehiṁ saneha basa karaba akājū ||
māgata bidā sabhaya sakucāhīṁ |jāi saṁga bidhi kahihi ki nāhī ||
भाई, जाकर अपनी मा से परमिशन ले, फिर जल्दी वापस आ, और चलें दोनों बन की तरफ। राम की बात सुनकर वो बहुत खुश हुआ। बड़ा फायदा मिल गया और बड़ा नुकसान निकल गया। खुशी के साथ वो अपनी मा के पास गया, जैसे अंधा इंसान को फिर से आँखें मिल जाएँ। जाकर अपनी मा के पैर छूए, मथा लगाया, पर उसका मन राम और सीता के साथ था। मा ने देखा कि उसका मन उदास है, तोह पूछा, और लक्ष्मन ने सारी बात डिटेल में बता दी। कड़क बातें सुनकर वो डर गई, जैसे हर तरफ आग देखकर हरिन डर जाए। लक्ष्मन ने देखा और सोचा, आज बड़ा अनर्थ आ गया है। इसी प्यार की वजह से वो मुझे जाने से रोक लेगी, मेरा काम बिगाड़ देगी। डर और झिझक में उसने परमिशन माँगने में झिझक की, सोचता था, क्या फेट मुझे राम के साथ जाने देगी या नहीं?
Speaker
Tulsidas (narrator), with Rama's instruction in line 1 reported in his words
Listener
General audience
Dasya (with Vatsalya and Bhaya undertones)
The scene
The prasanga
Rama has told Lakshmana to take leave of his mother and return quickly so that they may go to the forest together. Lakshmana goes joyfully to Sumitra, bows and tells her everything, then fears that her love will hinder him, and he hesitates to ask permission.
The teaching
- Themes
- माता से आज्ञा लेने की मर्यादा, भ्रातृ-प्रेम और सेवा-भाव, प्रभु-वियोग का भय, मातृ-स्नेह और कर्तव्य का द्वंद्व, भक्त का आनंद और संकोच, विधि और प्रारब्ध की चिंता
For right living (Ramrajya ethics)
Even devotion that is dearer than life must pass through the proper duty of seeking the mother's leave, so filial respect (matri-sammana) and service to the Lord are shown as compatible. Lakshmana respects his mother's authority, tells her the whole truth without concealment, and does not simply slip away.
Nirguna and saguna
The Lord is present here as a concrete person, Rama, the delight of the Raghus, whose spoken words give joy like sight to the blind. The devotee's mind clings to this embodied form, and that attachment is the way by which the unseen Supreme is reached.
Rama tells Lakshmana to take leave of his mother and come back quickly, and Lakshmana is delighted, as if a great loss had gone and a great gain had come. He goes to his mother like a blind man who has regained his sight, bows at her feet, but his mind remains with Rama and Sita. Sumitra, seeing his troubled mind, asks him, and he tells her everything; she shrinks like a doe that finds a forest fire on every side. Lakshmana sees her fear and dreads that her love will hinder him, so that he hesitates to ask for leave, wondering whether fate will let him go with Rama. Commentators read the passage as showing the pull between the claims of family love and the higher claim of service to the Lord.
Chaupai (16 matras per line, eight lines here, each pair of lines forming a rhymed couplet with the typical closing of two long syllables)
Utpreksha and upama in 'मनहुँ अंध फिरि लोचन पाए' (Lakshmana's joy is compared to a blind man regaining sight, with 'मनहुँ' as the marker); Utpreksha in 'मृगी देखि दव जनु चहु ओरा' (Sumitra's fear compared to a doe surrounded by a forest fire, marker 'जनु'); Utpreksha in 'मनु रघुनंदन जानकि साथा' (the mind is with Rama and Sita); Virodha and contrast in 'भयउ लाभ बड़ गइ बड़ि हानी' (gain against loss); Anuprasa (alliteration) in 'लखन लखेउ' and 'बड़ ... बड़ि'; Prashna (rhetorical question) in 'बिधि कहिहि कि नाही'
The verse fits Vishishtadvaita in its stress on the devotee's inseparable bond with the Lord: Lakshmana's body is with his mother, but his mind is with Rama and Janaki. His joy at being allowed to serve and his dread of separation show that, for the devotee, the Lord's presence is life and gain, and his absence is loss.
Raga Bhairavi, whose tender, yearning mood suits Lakshmana's mixture of joy, anxiety and filial hesitation. Raga Pilu would also serve for the plaintive lines about the frightened doe.
मागहु | बिदा | मातु | सन | जाई | आवहु | बेगि | चलहु | बन | भाई ||
मुदित | भए | सुनि | रघुबर | बानी | भयउ | लाभ | बड़ | गइ | बड़ि | हानी ||
हरषित | ह्दयँ | मातु | पहिं | आए | मनहुँ | अंध | फिरि | लोचन | पाए ||
जाइ | जननि | पग | नायउ | माथा | मनु | रघु-नंदन | जानकि | साथा ||
पूँछे | मातु | मलिन | मन | देखी | लखन | कही | सब | कथा | बिसेषी ||
गई | सहमि | सुनि | बचन | कठोरा | मृगी | देखि | दव | जनु | चहु | ओरा ||
लखन | लखेउ | भा | अनरथ | आजू | एहिं | सनेह | बस | करब | अकाजू ||
मागत | बिदा | सभय | सकुचाहीं | जाइ | संग | बिधि | कहिहि | कि | नाही ||
- बिदा
- प्रस्थान की अनुमति, विदाईOrigin: Persian
- लोचन
- आँख, नेत्रOrigin: Sanskrit
- मृगी
- हिरनीOrigin: Sanskrit
- सकुचाहीं
- संकोच करते हैं, झिझकते हैंOrigin: Awadhi
- अकाजू
- काम बिगाड़ने वाली बात, बाधा, हानिOrigin: Awadhi
- How does the use of Sanskritized Awadhi here elevate the 'Loka' (folk) to the 'Shastra' (scriptural)?
- The vocabulary is plain village Awadhi, as in 'मागहु बिदा मातु सन जाई' and 'पूँछे मातु मलिन मन देखी', yet it is mixed with Sanskrit-derived words such as लोचन, रघुनंदन, अनरथ, बिधि and सनेह. This mix lets an ordinary family scene, a young man asking his mother's leave, carry the weight of scriptural themes such as dharma, fate and devotion. Words like 'बिधि' and 'अनरथ' bring the Shastric idea of destiny into a household conversation. The folk idiom of the doe and the forest fire sits beside the learned diction without strain, so the Shastra is made accessible in the language of the people.
- What is the specific 'Siddhanta' (doctrine) Tulsidas establishes regarding the Name (Nama) vs Form (Rupa)?
- This verse does not discuss Nama and Rupa directly, so the doctrine can be read only by implication. It dwells on the Lord's spoken word and His person: Lakshmana is made glad by 'रघुबर बानी', and his mind stays with 'रघुनंदन जानकि' even while he bows to his mother. The Lord's utterance gives an immediate gain, 'भयउ लाभ बड़', and it lifts his loss, 'गइ बड़ि हानी'. The verse therefore shows that the Lord's words and His embodied form work together, so that the devotee finds sight and fulfilment in His presence. For the explicit teaching on Name and Form one must turn to the Manas passages on Nama-mahima, which this verse does not contain.
- How does this verse reflect the poet's 'Kavi-Manas' (the lake of the poet's mind) metaphor?
- Tulsidas's Manas is a lake of the mind, and its water is the clear feeling of the characters, here shown through images of the mind. Lakshmana's 'मनु' stays with Rama and Sita, and his mother is seen to be 'मलिन मन', so the mind is the stage on which the whole episode is played. The poet traces the movement of feeling, from the joy of the blind man who regains sight, to the doe's panic and Lakshmana's fear of fate. These ripples on the surface of the lake show the poet's skill in making the inner life of devotion visible. The scene thus shows how the poet's own mind contains and reflects the moods of his characters.
FAQs
राम ने लक्ष्मण से कहा कि माता से जाकर विदा माँगो और शीघ्र लौट आओ, फिर हम दोनों वन चलेंगे। इस वचन को सुनकर लक्ष्मण अत्यंत प्रसन्न हुए, मानो बड़ा लाभ हुआ और बड़ी हानि टल गई।
इसमें उत्प्रेक्षा अलंकार है, जिसमें 'मनहुँ' उसका वाचक शब्द है। लक्ष्मण का हर्ष ऐसे बताया गया है जैसे किसी अंधे को फिर से आँखें मिल गई हों। इससे प्रकट होता है कि राम के साथ वन जाने की अनुमति उनके लिए नई दृष्टि पाने जैसी थी।
माता सुमित्रा कठोर वचन सुनकर हिरनी की तरह भयभीत हो गईं, जिसे चारों ओर दावाग्नि दिखे। लक्ष्मण ने देखा कि माता का स्नेह उनके वन जाने में बाधा डाल सकता है, इसलिए वे डर और संकोच से भर गए। वे सोचने लगे कि विधाता उन्हें राम के साथ जाने देगा या नहीं।
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