The King Asks Sumantra to Bring Them Back after Four Days
Ayodhya Kanda, Doha 81
Doha 81 · Movement 2 of 2
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Dasharatha remembers how tender both princes are and how delicate Janaki is. The forest, in his mind, may still be shown rather than inhabited.
Seat them in the chariot, he tells Sumantra. Let them see the wilderness and return after four days.
The command constructs a small bridge across unbearable reality. Fourteen years are reduced to four days, exile to excursion, final departure to temporary absence. His voice clings to that number. A father's love bargains with time after every other appeal has failed, sending the minister to make hope visible upon wheels.
Dasharatha replaces fourteen years with four days and sends that fragile hope after the chariot.
Read the passage from the Manas
-सुठि सुकुमार कुमार दोउ जनकसुता सुकुमारि। रथ चढ़ाइ देखराइ बनु फिरेहु गएँ दिन चारि।।81।।
Both princes are so tender, and Janaki too is delicate. Seat them in the chariot, show them the forest, and return after four days.