The King's First Question Is Where Is Ram
Ayodhya Kanda, Doha 148
Doha 148 · Movement 2 of 2
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Sumantra bows low before the fallen king and offers the formal wish for victory and long life. Courtly language sounds fragile within the chamber of grief.
Dasharatha recognizes the minister's voice and struggles upward. No greeting, account of the road, or question about the chariot comes first.
Where is Ram? The entire kingdom's sorrow narrows into those words. Sumantra stands before the father with the answer he has rehearsed and dreaded, while the horses wait beyond the palace door. Protocol falls away, leaving only a parent searching the face of the last person who saw his son.
Dasharatha rises from the floor with one question, and every mile of Sumantra's feared return gathers inside it.
Read the passage from the Manas
देखि सचिवँ जय जीव कहि कीन्हेउ दंड प्रनामु। सुनत उठेउ ब्याकुल नृपति कहु सुमंत्र कहँ रामु।।148।।
Seeing the king, the minister bowed low, calling out, 'Victory! Long may you live!' Hearing this, the grief-stricken king struggled up and cried, 'Sumantra, tell me, where is Rama?'