Ramcharitmanas: Ayodhya Kanda, Prakarana 13
Chaupai 120.1-4
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।
जौं ए कंद मूल फल खाहीं।बादि सुधादि असन जग माहीं।।
एक कहहिं ए सहज सुहाए।आपु प्रगट भए बिधि न बनाए।।
जहँ लगि बेद कही बिधि करनी।श्रवन नयन मन गोचर बरनी।।
देखहु खोजि भुअन दस चारी।कहँ अस पुरुष कहाँ असि नारी।।
इन्हहि देखि बिधि मनु अनुरागा।पटतर जोग बनावै लागा।।
कीन्ह बहुत श्रम ऐक न आए।तेहिं इरिषा बन आनि दुराए।।
एक कहहिं हम बहुत न जानहिं।आपुहि परम धन्य करि मानहिं।।
ते पुनि पुन्यपुंज हम लेखे।जे देखहिं देखिहहिं जिन्ह देखे।।
jauṁ e kaṁda mūla phala khāhīṁ |bādi sudhādi asana jaga māhīṁ ||
eka kahahiṁ e sahaja suhāe |āpu pragaṭa bhae bidhi na banāe ||
jahã lagi beda kahī bidhi karanī |śravana nayana mana gocara baranī ||
dekhahu khoji bhuana dasa cārī |kahã asa puruṣa kahā̃ asi nārī ||
inhahi dekhi bidhi manu anurāgā |paṭatara joga banāvai lāgā ||
kīnha bahuta śrama aika na āe |tehiṁ iriṣā bana āni durāe ||
eka kahahiṁ hama bahuta na jānahiṁ |āpuhi parama dhanya kari mānahiṁ ||
te puni punyapuṁja hama lekhe |je dekhahiṁ dekhihahiṁ jinha dekhe ||
Jika kedua ini memakan umbi, akar, dan buah, maka segala makanan lazat seperti nektar di dunia ini menjadi sia-sia. Sebahagian berkata: "Kedua ini cantik secara semula jadi; mereka muncul dengan sendirinya dan tidak dibuat oleh Brahma." Segala karya Sang Pencipta yang disebut oleh Veda, apa sahaja yang digambarkan berada dalam jangkauan telinga, mata, dan fikiran, carilah dan lihatlah ke seluruh empat belas dunia: di mana ada lelaki seperti itu, di mana ada wanita seperti itu? Melihat mereka, hati Brahma dipenuhi rindu, dan ia mula membuat sepasang yang setara dengan mereka. Ia berusaha keras namun tiada satu pun yang setara; maka kerana dengki ia membawa mereka dan menyembunyikan mereka di hutan. Sebahagian berkata: "Kami tidak tahu banyak, tetapi kami menganggap diri kami amat berbahagia." Dan dalam pengiraan kami, mereka juga adalah timbunan pahala, mereka yang melihatnya, mereka yang akan melihatnya, dan mereka yang telah melihatnya.
Speaker
Village women (the women of the villages along the road)
Listener
One another (fellow women)
Vatsalya (with Karuna and Adbhuta undertones)
The scene
The prasanga
As the exiled travelers walk toward the forest, the village women gather to see them and talk among themselves. They protest that such beauty should live on bulbs and roots, and offer folk explanations of its source: it was not made by Brahma, or Brahma made it and then hid it out of jealousy.
The teaching
- Themes
- अलौकिक सौंदर्य, स्वयं-प्रकट रूप, ग्रामीण स्त्रियों की सरल भक्ति, दर्शन का पुण्य, वन-गमन पर करुणा, विनम्रता और श्रद्धा
For right living (Ramrajya ethics)
The verse shows the people's tender concern for rulers who have given up comfort for the sake of dharma, and it treats the sight of the virtuous (darshan) as merit. The women's humility, "we do not know much", yet their ready compassion, shows the moral sense of an ordinary people who recognize righteousness at once.
Nirguna and saguna
The beauty is said to lie beyond all that the Vedas describe as reachable by ear, eye or mind, yet these same village eyes can see it. This is the Saguna point: the unmade, self-appearing Reality has taken a form that anyone can look upon.
The village women, moved by the sight of the tender travelers, first object that those who deserve nectar and rich food should live on bulbs, roots and fruits. They then guess at the origin of such beauty: some say it is natural and self-manifest, not made by Brahma. Others say that Brahma, having seen it, tried to make a match, failed after great effort, and in jealousy hid the pair in the forest. Searching the fourteen worlds and everything the Vedas describe, they find no equal man or woman. Finally the humble among them say they know little but count as supremely blessed, and as heaps of merit, all who see, will see or have seen these two.
Chaupai (16/16 matras per line), eight lines. Example, line 1: जौं ए कंद मूल फल खाहीं (2+2+3+3+2+4 = 16) and बादि सुधादि असन जग माहीं (3+4+3+2+4 = 16).
Hetutpreksha (fanciful cause): "तेहिं इरिषा बन आनि दुराए" gives Brahma\'s jealousy as the imagined reason the pair are in the forest.; Ananvaya / Atishayokti (incomparability and exaggeration): "कहँ अस पुरुष कहाँ असि नारी" and "ऐक न आए" say that no match exists in the fourteen worlds.; Vakrokti (indirect expression): "बादि सुधादि असन जग माहीं" protests the forest fare by calling the world\'s food useless.; Anuprasa (alliteration): "कंद मूल फल", "सहज सुहाए" and "देखहिं देखिहहिं जिन्ह देखे".; Dipaka-like threefold tense: "जे देखहिं देखिहहिं जिन्ह देखे" gathers present, future and past viewers in one phrase.
The women's claim that this beauty is self-manifest and not made by Brahma fits the Vishishtadvaita view that the Lord's form is eternal and divine, not a product of the created order. The verse also sets the Vedic account of creation beside a beauty that no ear, eye or mind has met, which places the Lord's form above everything the Creator has made.
Raga Pahadi (or Mishra Pahadi), whose rustic, tender sweetness suits village women's wonder shaded with compassion.
जौं | ए | कंद | मूल | फल | खाहीं | बादि | सुधा-आदि | असन | जग | माहीं ||
एक | कहहिं | ए | सहज | सुहाए | आपु | प्रगट | भए | बिधि | न | बनाए ||
जहँ | लगि | बेद | कही | बिधि-करनी | श्रवन | नयन | मन | गोचर | बरनी ||
देखहु | खोजि | भुअन | दस-चारी | कहँ | अस | पुरुष | कहाँ | असि | नारी ||
इन्हहि | देखि | बिधि | मनु | अनुरागा | पटतर | जोग | बनावै | लागा ||
कीन्ह | बहुत | श्रम | ऐक | न | आए | तेहिं | इरिषा | बन | आनि | दुराए ||
एक | कहहिं | हम | बहुत | न | जानहिं | आपुहि | परम | धन्य | करि | मानहिं ||
ते | पुनि | पुन्य-पुंज | हम | लेखे | जे | देखहिं | देखिहहिं | जिन्ह | देखे ||
- बादि
- व्यर्थ, निष्फलOrigin: Awadhi
- पटतर
- बराबरी, समानता, उपमाOrigin: Awadhi
- इरिषा
- ईर्ष्या, जलनOrigin: Sanskrit
- दुराए
- छिपा दिएOrigin: Awadhi
- पुन्यपुंज
- पुण्यों का समूहOrigin: Sanskrit
- How does the use of Sanskritized Awadhi here elevate the 'Loka' (folk) to the 'Shastra' (scriptural)?
- The folk voice of the village women is lifted into scriptural register through words such as सुधा, असन, भुअन, पुरुष, नारी, श्रवन, नयन, गोचर, बेद and पुन्यपुंज. A simple woman's remark thus carries Vedic and Puranic categories: the Creator's works, the fourteen worlds, merit. The colloquial turns remain beside them: "हम बहुत न जानहिं", "ऐक न आए" and the plain contrast of कहँ and कहाँ. The result is that Loka and Shastra speak in the same sentence, and the unlettered women reach a theological truth by feeling.
- What is the specific 'Siddhanta' (doctrine) Tulsidas establishes regarding the Name (Nama) vs Form (Rupa)?
- This verse is about Rupa, the divine form, more than about Nama, and it should not be forced into a statement about the Name. Its doctrine is that the form is sahaja (natural) and self-manifest ("आपु प्रगट भए"), not made by Brahma and not matched by anything within ear, eye or mind. A form beyond the creator's skill is therefore not a created thing. The merit of seeing it ("पुन्यपुंज") shows that, for Tulsidas, the manifest form itself is the object of devotion and the means of grace.
- 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 fed by many streams, and here the stream is the speech of ordinary villagers, running clear into the story. Tulsidas lets the people's own wonder, doubt and humility describe the divine beauty before he does. The three channels of perception, "श्रवन नयन मन", resemble the ghats by which a devotee enters the lake. The last line, which names those who see, will see and have seen, extends the lake's invitation across all time.
FAQs
वे कहती हैं कि यदि ये दोनों कंद, मूल और फल खाएँगे तो संसार में सुधा आदि उत्तम भोजन व्यर्थ ही बनाए गए। अर्थात् ऐसे सुंदर और सुकुमार लोग तो श्रेष्ठ भोजन के योग्य हैं, वन के कठोर आहार के नहीं।
कुछ कहती हैं कि ये स्वभाव से ही सुंदर हैं और स्वयं प्रकट हुए हैं, ब्रह्मा ने इन्हें नहीं बनाया। दूसरी कल्पना यह है कि ब्रह्मा इन्हें देखकर मोहित हुए और इनके समान जोड़ा बनाने लगे, पर बहुत परिश्रम करके भी एक भी न बन सका, तब ईर्ष्या से इन्हें लाकर वन में छिपा दिया।
वे कहती हैं कि वे बहुत नहीं जानतीं, पर अपने को परम धन्य मानती हैं। उनके विचार में वे सब लोग पुण्य के पुंज हैं जो इन्हें देखते हैं, जो देखेंगे और जिन्होंने देखा है। इस प्रकार दर्शन को ही महान पुण्य माना गया है।
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