Ram Promises to Return to Kausalya's Feet
Ayodhya Kanda, Doha 53
Doha 53 · Movement 2 of 2
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Fourteen years stretch between departure and return. Ram names the full measure without softening it, yet places the span inside a promise.
He will dwell in the forest, make Dasharatha's word true, and come back to behold Kausalya's feet again. Dharma leads away and devotion marks the path home.
Ram asks her heart not to grow heavy. Time is long to maternal love, but not endless; separation is real, but not final. The feet before which he now stands become the fixed point toward which every forest year will silently move.
Across fourteen forest years, Ram draws one unbroken line back to his mother's feet.
Read the passage from the Manas
बरष चारिदस बिपिन बसि करि पितु बचन प्रमान। आइ पाय पुनि देखिहउँ मनु जनि करसि मलान।।53।।
"Having dwelt in the forest for fourteen years and proved my father's word true, I shall return and behold your feet again. Do not let your heart grow heavy with grief."