Ramcharitmanas: Bala Kanda, Prakarana 21
Chaupai 208.1-5
सोपान-प्रवेश: ‘भक्ति का जन्म’ और ‘नाम-रूप’ में ब्रह्म की सहज सुलभता। बाललीला के माध्यम से जीव का चित्त कठोर तर्क-चतुराई छोड़कर प्रेम-सरलता (बालभाव) में उतरता है; यही मुक्तिसोपान का प्रथम स्थिर पायदान है—जहाँ निर्गुण-अगोचर प्रभु सगुण-शिशु बनकर साधक की दृष्टि को रस, विस्मय और शरणागति में शिक्षित करते हैं।
सुनि राजा अति अप्रिय बानी।हृदय कंप मुख दुति कुमुलानी।।
चौथेंपन पायउँ सुत चारी।बिप्र बचन नहिं कहेहु बिचारी।।
मागहु भूमि धेनु धन कोसा।सर्बस देउँ आजु सहरोसा।।
देह प्रान तें प्रिय कछु नाही।सोउ मुनि देउँ निमिष एक माही।।
सब सुत प्रिय मोहि प्रान कि नाईं।राम देत नहिं बनइ गोसाई।।
कहँ निसिचर अति घोर कठोरा।कहँ सुंदर सुत परम किसोरा।।
सुनि नृप गिरा प्रेम रस सानी।हृदयँ हरष माना मुनि ग्यानी।।
तब बसिष्ट बहु निधि समुझावा।नृप संदेह नास कहँ पावा।।
अति आदर दोउ तनय बोलाए।हृदयँ लाइ बहु भाँति सिखाए।।
मेरे प्रान नाथ सुत दोऊ।तुम्ह मुनि पिता आन नहिं कोऊ।।
suni rājā ati apriya bānī |hṛdaya kampa mukha duti kumulānī ||
cauthempana pāyaũ suta cārī |bipra bacana nahiṁ kahehu bicārī ||
māgahu bhūmi dhenu dhana kosā |sarbasa deũ āju saharosā ||
deha prāna teṁ priya kachu nāhī |sou muni deũ nimiṣa eka māhī ||
saba suta priya mohi prāna ki nāīṁ |rāma deta nahiṁ banai gosāī ||
kahã nisicara ati ghora kaṭhorā |kahã sundara suta parama kisorā ||
suni nṛpa girā prema rasa sānī |hṛdayã haraṣa mānā muni gyānī ||
taba basiṣṭa bahu nidhi samujhāvā |nṛpa sandeha nāsa kahã pāvā ||
ati ādara dou tanaya bolāe |hṛdayã lāi bahu bhā̃ti sikhāe ||
mere prāna nātha suta doū |tumha muni pitā āna nahiṁ koū ||
Ao ouvir estas palavras tão desagradáveis, o rei tremeu no coração e o esplendor do seu rosto se desvaneceu. "Na minha velhice obtive quatro filhos. Ó brâmane, falaste sem refletir." "Pede terras, vacas, riquezas e tesouros; hoje mesmo darei tudo com alegria." "Nada é mais querido que o corpo e a vida, ó sábio; até isso eu daria em um só instante." "Todos os meus filhos me são tão queridos quanto a minha vida, mas dar Rama, meu senhor, não posso suportar." "Onde estão os demônios, tão terríveis e cruéis, e onde meu belo filho, um mero menino tenro?" Ao ouvir as palavras do rei impregnadas da doçura do amor, o sábio se regozijou no coração. Então Vasishtha aconselhou o rei de muitas maneiras, e a dúvida do rei foi destruída. Com grande honra chamou seus dois filhos, apertou-os contra o coração e os instruiu de muitas maneiras. "Estes dois filhos são minha vida, meu senhor; tu, ó sábio, és seu pai, e ninguém mais."
Speaker
Dasharatha (lines 2 to 6 and 10), with Tulsidas narrating lines 1, 7, 8 and 9
Listener
The sage (Vishwamitra) in the royal court; the narrative frame is for the general audience
Vatsalya (with Karuna undertone and a resolution in Dasya, as the father submits to the sage's will)
The scene
The prasanga
The sage has asked Dasharatha for his sons to guard his rites against the demons, and the king trembles at the request. He offers every other possession, pleads that Rama is too tender, is calmed by Vasishtha's counsel, and then calls his two sons, instructs them and entrusts them to the sage as their father.
The teaching
- Themes
- पुत्र-वात्सल्य और पितृ-प्रेम, राजधर्म बनाम मोह, गुरु-वचन से संदेह का नाश, ऋषि का सम्मान और दान, त्याग और समर्पण, सुपात्र को सौंपना
For right living (Ramrajya ethics)
A king's word and generosity are tested: he offers land, cows, wealth and his own life (sarbas deu), yet in the end he honours the sage's claim and yields to the guru's counsel. Personal attachment gives way to rajadharma, the protection of the sages, and the princes are entrusted to a worthy teacher as to a father.
Nirguna and saguna
The Supreme appears here as a tender boy (sundar sut parama kisora) whom a father cannot bear to give up, yet the wise sage (muni gyani) rejoices at the very words that voice this love. The verse suggests that the Absolute is fully present in the lovable, limited form, and that the knower recognises it through the devotee's love.
Dasharatha, shaken by the sage's unwelcome demand, loses the glow of his face and pleads that he has only just received four sons in old age. He offers land, cows, wealth, treasure and even his life, but cannot bear to part with Rama, so tender a boy against such cruel demons. The wise sage rejoices at the love in these words. Vasishtha then counsels the king at length and his doubt is destroyed. With great honour he calls his two sons, embraces and instructs them, and entrusts them to the sage, saying that they are his very life and that the sage is their father and no one else.
Chaupai (16/16 matras per line); each line has two half-lines of 16 matras, as in 'सुनि राजा अति अप्रिय बानी' (2+4+2+4+4 = 16).
Upama: 'सब सुत प्रिय मोहि प्रान कि नाईं' (sons as dear as life). Vishama (stark incongruity): 'कहँ निसिचर अति घोर कठोरा, कहँ सुंदर सुत परम किसोरा'. Rupaka (implied): 'प्रेम रस सानी' (love as a sweet juice) and 'दुति कुमुलानी' (the face's radiance as a wilting flower). Anuprasa (alliteration): 'हृदय कंप', 'घोर कठोरा', 'किसोरा'. Climax by gradation: 'भूमि धेनु धन कोसा' rising to 'सर्बस', then 'देह प्रान'. Repetition (dipaka-like): 'हृदयँ' in lines 1, 7 and 9.
The verse sits with Vishishtadvaita in that the Lord's human sonship is a real relation of love, not an illusion to be dissolved: Dasharatha's attachment to Rama is vatsalya-bhakti, and the doubt (sandeha) that clouds it is lifted not by denying the bond but by the guru's counsel. Tulsidas keeps the individual devotee and the beloved Lord distinct, while the knowing sage rejoices in the king's love.
Raga Bhairavi, whose tender, yearning and devotional mood suits a father's anguish, the soothing counsel of the guru and the final act of entrusting.
सुनि | राजा | अति | अप्रिय | बानी | हृदय | कंप | मुख | दुति | कुमुलानी ||
चौथेंपन | पायउँ | सुत | चारी | बिप्र | बचन | नहिं | कहेहु | बिचारी ||
मागहु | भूमि | धेनु | धन | कोसा | सर्बस | देउँ | आजु | सहरोसा ||
देह | प्रान | तें | प्रिय | कछु | नाही | सोउ | मुनि | देउँ | निमिष | एक | माही ||
सब | सुत | प्रिय | मोहि | प्रान | कि | नाईं | राम | देत | नहिं | बनइ | गोसाई ||
कहँ | निसिचर | अति | घोर | कठोरा | कहँ | सुंदर | सुत | परम | किसोरा ||
सुनि | नृप | गिरा | प्रेम-रस | सानी | हृदयँ | हरष | माना | मुनि | ग्यानी ||
तब | बसिष्ट | बहु | निधि | समुझावा | नृप | संदेह | नास | कहँ | पावा ||
अति | आदर | दोउ | तनय | बोलाए | हृदयँ | लाइ | बहु | भाँति | सिखाए ||
मेरे | प्रान | नाथ | सुत | दोऊ | तुम्ह | मुनि | पिता | आन | नहिं | कोऊ ||
- चौथेंपन
- जीवन की चौथी अवस्था, बुढ़ापाOrigin: Awadhi
- कुमुलानी
- मुरझा गई, कांतिहीन हो गईOrigin: Awadhi
- निमिष
- पलक झपकने भर का समय, क्षणOrigin: Sanskrit
- गोसाई
- स्वामी, प्रभु; आदरपूर्वक संबोधनOrigin: Awadhi
- तनय
- पुत्र, बेटाOrigin: Sanskrit
- How does the use of Sanskritized Awadhi here elevate the 'Loka' (folk) to the 'Shastra' (scriptural)?
- Homely Awadhi such as 'चौथेंपन', 'गोसाई', 'सहरोसा', 'कुमुलानी' and 'कि नाईं' keeps the king's plea in the ordinary speech of a worried father. Tatsama words such as 'निमिष', 'सर्बस', 'संदेह', 'तनय', 'ग्यानी', 'प्रेम रस' and 'बसिष्ट' lift it to the register of scripture. The two vocabularies meet in single lines, as in 'सोउ मुनि देउँ निमिष एक माही', so the household scene carries the weight of dharma. Thus a folk quarrel between love and duty is shown as a scriptural trial of a king's truthfulness.
- What is the specific 'Siddhanta' (doctrine) Tulsidas establishes regarding the Name (Nama) vs Form (Rupa)?
- This verse does not state the doctrine of Name and Form outright, so it should be read only as an illustration. The single word 'राम' in 'राम देत नहिं बनइ गोसाई' at once calls up the whole beloved person, the 'सुंदर सुत परम किसोरा' of line 6. The Name works as a handle on the Form: when the sage utters it, the king's heart answers with trembling. This is consistent with the Manas view that Name and Form are inseparable, the Name being the way the Form is held in the heart.
- How does this verse reflect the poet's 'Kavi-Manas' (the lake of the poet's mind) metaphor?
- Like the lake of the Manas, the passage moves by gradual steps from agitation to clarity: fear in 'हृदय कंप', pleading, a steadying 'प्रेम रस सानी' and finally the settled instruction. The word 'हृदयँ' recurs in lines 1, 7 and 9, marking the heart as the place where the whole drama is felt. The 'rasa' that soaks the king's speech is the very water of the lake. The clouding of doubt (संदेह) and its clearing by Vasishtha's counsel resemble the muddy and then clear water that the poet describes as the mind purified by the guru's word.
FAQs
मुनि की बात राजा के लिए अत्यंत अप्रिय थी। उसे सुनकर उनका हृदय काँप उठा और मुख की दीप्ति मुरझा गई (हृदय कंप मुख दुति कुमुलानी)। बुढ़ापे में पाए चार पुत्रों में से राम को माँगा जाना उन्हें असह्य लगा।
उन्होंने भूमि, गौएँ, धन, कोष और अपना सर्वस्व, यहाँ तक कि देह और प्राण भी क्षण भर में देने को कहा। पर सब पुत्र उन्हें प्राण के समान प्रिय थे, इसलिए राम को देना उनसे नहीं बन पा रहा था। उन्होंने कोमल किशोर राम और घोर निशाचरों की तुलना करके अपनी पीड़ा प्रकट की।
वसिष्ठ के अनेक प्रकार से समझाने पर राजा का संदेह नष्ट हो गया। उन्होंने बड़े आदर से दोनों पुत्रों को बुलाया, हृदय से लगाया और बहुत प्रकार से सिखाया। फिर मुनि से कहा कि ये दोनों मेरे प्राण हैं और अब आप ही इनके पिता हैं, दूसरा कोई नहीं।
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