Dasharatha Leaves through Ram's Name
Ayodhya Kanda, Doha 155
Doha 155 · Movement 2 of 2
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Ram's name fills Dasharatha's final breath. He speaks it, calls it, repeats it, and returns to it as every other word and relation fall away.
The pain of separation remains the immediate cause of death, yet the beloved name transforms the passage. Grief becomes one pointed remembrance at the threshold where consciousness leaves the body.
The king departs for the celestial realm with Ram upon his lips. The scene does not deny the palace's devastation. It reveals liberation burning within it: a father dies calling his son, and the son is the eternal name capable of carrying him beyond death.
Dasharatha's body falls silent, but Ram's name has already become the road upon which the king departs.
Read the passage from the Manas
राम राम कहि राम कहि राम राम कहि राम। तनु परिहरि रघुबर बिरहँ राउ गयउ सुरधाम।।155।।
Chanting 'Rama, Rama,' calling out 'Rama,' saying 'Rama, Rama,' calling 'Rama' once more; leaving his body in the pain of separation from Raghubara, the king departed to the heavenly realm.