Names Given Beneath the Royal Canopy
Bala Kanda, Chaupai 195
Doha 197 · Movement 1 of 2
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Days and nights pass through the palace without anyone feeling their weight. Joy has loosened the ordinary measure of time. Lamps are replenished, conches sound at the appointed hours, and the four infant princes rest beneath the watch of a household that seems to have forgotten every former sorrow.
When the hour for the naming rite arrives, Dasharatha summons the wise sages. The king receives them with worship and bends before their discernment. Beneath the ceremonial canopy, Vedic sound fills the hall while the children lie among flowers, vessels of clear water, and the gathered gaze of the royal family. The sage begins to reveal names already vast enough to hold destinies.
Ram is named as the ocean of bliss, the resting place whose smallest drop brings happiness to the three worlds. Bharat is named for the power that bears and nourishes the universe. Shatrughna is named for the remembrance before which enemies are destroyed. These are not ornaments placed upon royal children. They are doors opening from the cradle into the hidden architecture of the Leela.
The names cross the hall, and three worlds receive them.
Read the passage from the Manas
कछुक दिवस बीते एहि भाँती। जात न जानिअ दिन अरु राती।। नामकरन कर अवसरु जानी। भूप बोलि पठए मुनि ग्यानी।। करि पूजा भूपति अस भाषा। धरिअ नाम जो मुनि गुनि राखा।। इन्ह के नाम अनेक अनूपा। मैं नृप कहब स्वमति अनुरूपा।। जो आनंद सिंधु सुखरासी। सीकर तें त्रैलोक सुपासी।। सो सुख धाम राम अस नामा। अखिल लोक दायक बिश्रामा।। बिस्व भरन पोषन कर जोई। ताकर नाम भरत अस होई।। जाके सुमिरन तें रिपु नासा। नाम सत्रुहन बेद प्रकासा।।
Some days passed in this way, day and night slipping by unnoticed, so deep was the joy. Knowing that the time for the Naamkarana (naming ceremony) had arrived, the king sent for the wise Guru Vasishtha.