A Thunderbolt Falls upon Ayodhya at Night
Ayodhya Kanda, Doha 153
Doha 153 · Movement 2 of 2
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Wailing erupts from the royal residence and rushes through Ayodhya. The sleeping city awakens not to news stated clearly but to the sound of a household breaking.
It is as though a hard thunderbolt has struck a forest filled with countless birds at night. Roosts explode into wings, cries, and terrified movement before anyone can see what fell.
The palace is the point of impact, but fear travels through every home. Citizens share one canopy with the royal family, and the shock passing through its branches leaves no life undisturbed. Darkness magnifies the uproar while Ram remains far away beneath another sky.
Across midnight Ayodhya, palace grief strikes like lightning through a forest of startled lives.
Read the passage from the Manas
भयउ कोलाहलु अवध अति सुनि नृप राउर सोरु। बिपुल बिहग बन परेउ निसि मानहुँ कुलिस कठोरु।।153।।
A great tumult arose in Ayodhya upon hearing the cries from the royal palace. It was as if a harsh thunderbolt had fallen at night upon a forest full of countless birds.