Mithila Discovers the Two Pairs of Brothers
Bala Kanda, Chaupai 308
Doha 311 · Movement 1 of 3
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The citizens rejoice that hospitality will bring repeated sight of Ram and Lakshmana. Then attention widens: Dasharatha has brought two more princes who form another dark-and-fair pair beside them.
Bharata resembles Ram so closely that people cannot distinguish them at first glance. Lakshmana and Shatrughna appear alike from crown to foot, every limb matchless. It seems Brahma fashioned all four with his own hands.
The brothers delight the mind but escape description. No comparison exists across the three worlds. Kinship appears visibly as harmony, not sameness: two pairs reflecting one another, each distinct yet bound by beauty, virtue, and affection. Mithila beholds not only a bridegroom but an entire fraternity of grace.
One dark-and-fair pair becomes two, and Mithila sees brotherhood arranged like a living symmetry.
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बिबिध भाँति होइहि पहुनाई। प्रिय न काहि अस सासुर माई।। तब तब राम लखनहि निहारी। होइहहिं सब पुर लोग सुखारी।। सखि जस राम लखनकर जोटा। तैसेइ भूप संग दुइ ढोटा।। स्याम गौर सब अंग सुहाए। ते सब कहहिं देखि जे आए।। कहा एक मैं आजु निहारे। जनु बिरंचि निज हाथ सँवारे।। भरतु रामही की अनुहारी। सहसा लखि न सकहिं नर नारी।। लखनु सत्रुसूदनु एकरूपा। नख सिख ते सब अंग अनूपा।। मन भावहिं मुख बरनि न जाहीं। उपमा कहुँ त्रिभुवन कोउ नाहीं।।
There will be hospitality of every kind. What mother-in-law's heart would not cherish such beloved ones? Each time the people behold Rama and Lakshmana, the whole city will be filled with delight. 'O friend, just as Rama and Lakshmana form one pair, so the king has two more princes with him.' One dark, one fair, every limb beautiful. So say all who have come and seen them. One person declared: 'Today I have beheld those whom Brahma himself has fashioned with his own hands.' Bharata so closely resembles Rama that neither men nor women can tell them apart at first sight. Lakshmana and Shatrughna are identical in form, matchless in every limb from head to toe. They delight the heart yet cannot be described in words; in all the three worlds there is no likeness to compare them to.