Maricha Honors His Sudden Guest and Reads Distress beneath the Crown
Aranya Kanda, Doha 24
Doha 24 · Movement 2 of 2
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Maricha receives Ravana at his dwelling by the sea and performs the honors due to his guest. Worship comes first. Whatever alarm the sudden arrival awakens, he places courtesy before inquiry and attends upon the lord of Lanka with formal care.
Only then does Maricha look more closely. Ravana has not come in the measured manner of an ordinary royal visit. Agitation presses through his bearing. The speed of his arrival and the disturbance in his mind tell Maricha that some violent purpose has crossed the ocean with him.
Respectfully, Maricha asks what has made Ravana's mind so intensely troubled and why he has appeared so unexpectedly and alone. Surf moves along the nearby shore as the question enters the pause between them. The guest has been worshiped, the seat of hospitality has been given, and now the hidden cause must be spoken aloud.
At the ocean's edge, reverence completes its rites and then asks dread to name itself.
Read the passage from the Manas
करि पूजा मारीच तब सादर पूछी बात। कवन हेतु मन ब्यग्र अति अकसर आयहु तात।।24।।
After offering worship, Maricha then respectfully inquired: "What cause has brought such distress to your mind, dear lord, that you come here so suddenly?"