The Palace Wonders Why Dasharatha Has Not Awakened
Ayodhya Kanda, Doha 37
Doha 37 · Movement 2 of 2
Keep this contemplation
Preserve, print, or share
The sun stands above the horizon, yet Dasharatha has not appeared. Servants and ministers gather at the door where the king's daily order should already be flowing.
They ask what exceptional cause could keep the lord of Ayodhya from waking. His absence begins as a small irregularity within a morning prepared down to its auspicious hour.
Beyond the door lies a night they cannot imagine. Outside, duty waits in formation and coronation preparations continue. The first public sign of disaster is simply a delayed awakening, a silence where the king's voice has always met the dawn.
At the royal door, a kingdom first encounters calamity as the unexplained silence of its king.
Read the passage from the Manas
द्वार भीर सेवक सचिव कहहिं उदित रबि देखि। जागेउ अजहुँ न अवधपति कारनु कवनु बिसेषि।।37।।
Seeing the sun risen, the servants and ministers crowding at the door say: 'The lord of Ayodhya has not woken even now. What could be the special reason?'