मातु! काहेको कहति अति बचन दीन? तबकी तुही जानति, अबकी हौं ही कहत, सबके जियकी जानत प्रभु प्रबीन॥ १ ॥ ऐसे तो सोचहि न्याय निठुर-नायक-रत सलभ, खग, कुरंग, कमल, मीन। करुनानिधानको तो ज्यों ज्यों तनु छीन भयो त्यों त्यों मनु भयो तेरे प्रेम पीन॥ २ ॥ सियको सनेह, रघुबरकी दसा सुमिरि पवनपूत देखि भयो प्रीति-लीन। तुलसी जनको जननी प्रबोध कियो, ‘समुझि तात! जग बिधि-अधीन’॥ ३ ॥
Mother, why do you speak such utterly despondent words? You alone know what happened then; I tell you what is true now, and the all-wise Lord knows every heart. (1) Such lament might be fitting for the moth, bird, deer, lotus, or fish, devoted to cruel destroyers. But as the Compassionate One’s body has grown thinner, his mind has become ever fuller with love for you. (2) Remembering Sītā’s affection and Raghubara’s condition, the Son of the Wind became absorbed in love. Tulsī says the Mother then instructed her servant: “Understand, son—the world is subject to fate.” (3)