Guha Points toward the Banyan above Ram's Leaf Hut
Ayodhya Kanda, Chaupai 237
Doha 237 · Movement 1 of 2
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Guha climbs to higher ground, lifts both arms, and calls Bharata's gaze toward great pakar, jambu, mango, and tamala trees standing near the river.
Among them rises a vast banyan with dense blue-green leaves, red fruit, and unbroken shade in every season. It seems as though the Creator gathered darkness, dawn, and all beauty into a single living form.
There, Guha says, Raghubir has raised the leaf hut. Lovely trees surround it, some planted by Sita and some by Lakshmana. Beneath the banyan, Sita's lotus-soft hands have shaped a small altar. Details once ordinary to the forest become unbearable treasures as Bharata receives the first map of Ram's daily world.
Guha's raised arms frame the banyan, the leaf hut, and the small altar shaped by Sita's own hands.
Read the passage from the Manas
तब केवट ऊँचें चढ़ि धाई। कहेउ भरत सन भुजा उठाई।। नाथ देखिअहिं बिटप बिसाला। पाकरि जंबु रसाल तमाला।। जिन्ह तरुबरन्ह मध्य बटु सोहा। मंजु बिसाल देखि मनु मोहा।। नील सघन पल्ल्व फल लाला। अबिरल छाहँ सुखद सब काला।। मानहुँ तिमिर अरुनमय रासी। बिरची बिधि सँकेलि सुषमा सी।। ए तरु सरित समीप गोसाँई। रघुबर परनकुटी जहँ छाई।। तुलसी तरुबर बिबिध सुहाए। कहुँ कहुँ सियँ कहुँ लखन लगाए।। बट छायाँ बेदिका बनाई। सियँ निज पानि सरोज सुहाई।।
Then the kevat climbed to a high vantage point and hurried forward. Raising both arms, he called out to Bharat. Naath, behold those great and stately trees: the pakari, the jambu, the mango, and the tamala. Among those noble trees stands a glorious vata, a banyan so vast and beautiful it captivates the heart at first sight. Its leaves are dense and blue-green, its fruits a rich red. Its shade is unbroken and gives comfort in every season. It is as though Vidhi, the Creator himself, has gathered all beauty into one place, fashioning a mound of darkness touched with the rose of dawn. These trees stand near the river, Gosain. That is where Raghubar has raised his parnakuti, his hut of leaves. Tulsidas says that many lovely trees grow there. Some were planted by Sita's hands, and some by Lakshman. Beneath the banyan's shade, Sita has fashioned a vedika, a beautiful altar, with her own lotus-soft hands.