The Reward of Birth Is to Carry Sacred Counsel
Ayodhya Kanda, Doha 70
Doha 70 · Movement 2 of 2
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Mother, father, guru, and master give teachings that connect personal life to dharma, lineage, wisdom, and service.
Those who receive such counsel naturally and carry it upon their heads have gathered the true fruit of human birth. Without that receptivity, life passes without ripening.
The doha prepares Ram's instruction to Lakshmana. Devotion cannot be measured only by closeness to the beloved; it must also hear the duty the beloved names. The head bowed at Ram's feet must become the head willing to carry his word, even when the word points toward separation.
Sacred counsel bears fruit only when the bowed head rises carrying it into action.
Read the passage from the Manas
मातु पिता गुरु स्वामि सिख सिर धरि करहि सुभायँ। लहेउ लाभु तिन्ह जनम कर नतरु जनमु जग जायँ।।70।।
Those who receive the teachings of mother, father, guru, and master, and carry them upon their heads with natural devotion, have truly reaped the reward of being born. Otherwise, birth in this world is lived in vain.