Kausalya Asks When She Will Call Ram by His Childhood Names
Ayodhya Kanda, Doha 68
Doha 68 · Movement 2 of 2
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Kausalya calls out the tender names that have followed Ram from infancy: Tata, Vatsa, Lala, Raghubara. Each name contains a different touch of the mother's voice.
When will she speak them again and have him near enough to answer? When will she embrace him and fill her eyes with his form?
The exile is measured not only in years but in interrupted acts of intimacy. Publicly he is prince, hero, and Lord of Raghu's line; before Kausalya he remains the child summoned by household names. The forest takes every name beyond hearing distance.
Kausalya sends Ram toward the forest wrapped in the childhood names she longs to speak again.
Read the passage from the Manas
बहुरि बच्छ कहि लालु कहि रघुपति रघुबर तात। कबहिं बोलाइ लगाइ हियँ हरषि निरखिहउँ गात।।68।।
"O Tata! O Vatsa! O Lala! O Raghubara! When will I call you again by these names? When will I embrace you once more and gaze upon your form with joy?"