The Name Before the Flame
Bala Kanda, Chaupai 19
Doha 19 · Movement 1 of 2
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Before fire reddens the altar, before the sun lifts its burning disc, before moonlight pours across the sleeping earth, two syllables abide at the source of their radiance. Ra and Ma are the secret cause within the visible lights. The lives of Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva move by their power, and the Vedas guard them like a treasure whose depth no recitation can exhaust.
On Kailash, Shiva repeats the great mantra. In Kashi, where the final breath leaves the body beside the dark river, he bends toward the dying and gives the Name that opens the path beyond death. Ganesha receives first worship through its glory. Valmiki, uttering the syllables in reverse, is washed clean until the forest bandit stands revealed as a sage. Parvati chants beside Shiva, knowing one Name to hold the weight of a thousand names.
Poison once burned blue in Shiva's throat, yet the Name dwelling there made even that deadly darkness a sign of auspiciousness. Nirguna silence and every radiant form rest within the same unfathomable sound. Tulsidas bows before it, not as a word made by the tongue, but as the life hidden within all sacred life.
Before the first flame rises, Ra and Ma are already shining.
Read the passage from the Manas
बंदउँ नाम राम रघुवर को। हेतु कृसानु भानु हिमकर को।। बिधि हरि हरमय बेद प्रान सो। अगुन अनूपम गुन निधान सो।। महामंत्र जोइ जपत महेसू। कासीं मुकुति हेतु उपदेसू।। महिमा जासु जान गनराउ। प्रथम पूजिअत नाम प्रभाऊ।। जान आदिकबि नाम प्रतापू। भयउ सुद्ध करि उलटा जापू।। सहस नाम सम सुनि सिव बानी। जपि जेई पिय संग भवानी।। हरषे हेतु हेरि हर ही को। किय भूषन तिय भूषन ती को।। नाम प्रभाउ जान सिव नीको। कालकूट फलु दीन्ह अमी को।।
I bow to the Name of Ram, supreme among the Raghus, that Name which is the hidden cause behind fire, sun, and moon. That Name pervades Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva alike. It is the living breath of the Vedas. It is nirguna, formless and beyond compare, and yet it is saguna, the incomparable treasury of all divine qualities.