The Heart of Mud Refuses to Crack
Ayodhya Kanda, Doha 146
Doha 146 · Movement 2 of 2
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Mud separated from its sustaining water dries and splits. Sumantra looks inward and finds that his own heart did not crack when parted from Ram, the water it loved.
Continued life appears inexplicable. If the beloved current has withdrawn, why does the inner earth remain whole enough to feel another mile of pain?
He concludes that the Creator fashioned this body specifically for torment. The metaphor turns survival into a prolonged exposure to separation. Yet within the lament, Ram remains the hidden water by which even this anguished heart defines what life should be.
Sumantra calls his heart faithless mud because it survives without the water of Ram and must therefore endure every crack inwardly.
Read the passage from the Manas
-ह्रदउ न बिदरेउ पंक जिमि बिछुरत प्रीतमु नीरु।। जानत हौं मोहि दीन्ह बिधि यहु जातना सरीरु।।146।।
My heart did not crack like mud when parted from its beloved water, Rama. I understand now: the Creator gave me this body solely for suffering.