The Worlds Tremble before Lakshmana's Vow
Ayodhya Kanda, Doha 230
Doha 230 · Movement 2 of 2
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Lakshmana stands ablaze with anger, every weapon aligned behind a vow uttered in Ram's name. The force is not theatrical. All who hear it know his word can become action.
Fear moves outward from the hermitage through every world. The lords of heaven, accustomed to commanding storms and armies, wish they could scatter and flee.
One servant's wrath has made the structure of creation tremble because it rises from immeasurable fidelity and immeasurable misunderstanding at once. The tableau holds danger at its peak. Before a single arrow flies, the universe reveals how much power love can release when it believes the beloved threatened.
A vow spoken beside Ram's hut travels through creation like fire, and even the guardians of heaven search for escape.
Read the passage from the Manas
अति सरोष माखे लखनु लखि सुनि सपथ प्रवान। सभय लोक सब लोकपति चाहत भभरि भगान।।230।।
Seeing Lakshmana ablaze with such fury, hearing his fearsome vow ring true, all the worlds trembled in dread, and even the lords of heaven wished to flee in terror.