Sharabhanga's Eyes Drink from Rama's Lotus Face
Aranya Kanda, Doha 7ख
Doha 7ख · Movement 2 of 2
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Rama stands within sight of Sharabhanga. The sage's long waiting contracts into a single act of beholding, and his eyes settle upon the Lord's face.
The poet transforms those eyes into bees and Rama's face into a lotus filled with nectar. They drink with reverence, not hurriedly, as though every glance could enter more deeply into the beauty for which the sage preserved his mortal life.
Nothing else is required to declare his birth blessed. A hermitage, an aged body, and the arrival of the forest travelers become the whole field of fulfillment. Sharabhanga has seen the form his heart awaited, and sight itself becomes worship before any final words or sacrificial flame appear.
At the end of waiting, Sharabhanga's gaze rests like a bee inside the lotus of Rama's face.
Read the passage from the Manas
देखी राम मुख पंकज मुनिबर लोचन भृंग। सादर पान करत अति धन्य जन्म सरभंग।।7।।
Gazing upon Rama's lotus face, the sage Sharabhanga's eyes became like bees drinking deeply of nectar. Blessed, truly blessed was his birth.