The Citizens Bow and Say Nothing
Ayodhya Kanda, Doha 158
Doha 158 · Movement 2 of 2
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Townspeople meet Bharata along the road, but no greeting can cross their lips. They bow, turn aside, and continue with the burden of knowledge he does not possess.
Bharata cannot ask after anyone's welfare. Fear has already shaped the silence into an answer, while sorrow makes ordinary courtesy feel impossible.
The prince and citizens pass within a city full of unspoken catastrophe. Every withheld word deepens his dread more than an open lament might have done. Ayodhya receives him not with proclamation or accusation, but with lowered heads and retreating figures who leave him alone before the palace.
In the streets of Ayodhya, each silent bow tells Bharata that the truth ahead is too terrible to speak.
Read the passage from the Manas
पुरजन मिलिहिं न कहहिं कछु गवँहिं जोहारहिं जाहिं। भरत कुसल पूँछि न सकहिं भय बिषाद मन माहिं।।158।।
The townspeople meet him but say nothing; they bow in silence and turn away. Bharata cannot bring himself to ask after anyone's welfare, for fear and sorrow weigh heavy on every heart.