Sutikshna Brings the Long-Awaited Guest into His Hermitage
Aranya Kanda, Doha 10
Doha 10 · Movement 2 of 2
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Slowly Sutikshna gathers steadiness within his heart. The embrace has ended, yet wonder still moves through him, and he returns again and again to Rama's feet as if each touch confirms that the meeting is real.
Then he leads the Lord toward his own hermitage. The path that vanished in ecstasy now has a destination, because its beloved traveler walks beside him. A place of waiting becomes a place of welcome.
Within the ashram Sutikshna performs worship in many forms. Whatever the forest dwelling can offer is arranged before Rama, Sita, and Lakshmana. The sage who claimed to possess no worthy practice now makes every gesture an offering, and the humble clearing receives the one for whom his eyes, feet, and heart had all lost their ordinary course.
Sutikshna's hermitage becomes an altar when the feet he grasped upon the road cross its threshold.
Read the passage from the Manas
तब मुनि हृदयँ धीर धीर गहि पद बारहिं बार। निज आश्रम प्रभु आनि करि पूजा बिबिध प्रकार।।10।।
Then, steadying his heart, the sage grasped Rama's feet again and again. He brought the Lord to his own ashram and worshipped him with offerings of every kind.