Mithila Prepares an Immeasurable Farewell Retinue
Bala Kanda, Chaupai 330
Doha 333 · Movement 1 of 2
Keep this contemplation
Preserve, print, or share
The citizens question one another anxiously until the news is certain. Then Janakpur weeps like a lake of lotuses touched by evening. Along the road, every halting place is stocked with abundant provisions, fruits, sweets, and delicacies beyond counting.
Bearer after bearer bends beneath Janaka's gifts. One hundred thousand horses stand adorned beside twenty five thousand chariots. Ten thousand spirited elephants rise in magnificent trappings, making even the celestial guardians of the directions seem modest by comparison.
Carts fill with gold, garments, gems, buffaloes, cows, and gifts of every kind. The scale is royal, yet the impulse is intimate. Mithila cannot walk all the way to Ayodhya with its daughters, so it sends nourishment for the road, wealth for the new household, and a vast moving testimony to the love that watches them leave.
Mithila pours its sorrow into a river of provisions, animals, jewels, and care flowing toward Ayodhya.
Read the passage from the Manas
पुरबासी सुनि चलिहि बराता। बूझत बिकल परस्पर बाता।। सत्य गवनु सुनि सब बिलखाने। मनहुँ साँझ सरसिज सकुचाने।। जहँ जहँ आवत बसे बराती। तहँ तहँ सिद्ध चला बहु भाँती।। बिबिध भाँति मेवा पकवाना। भोजन साजु न जाइ बखाना।। भरि भरि बसहँ अपार कहारा। पठई जनक अनेक सुसारा।। तुरग लाख रथ सहस पचीसा। सकल सँवारे नख अरु सीसा।। मत्त सहस दस सिंधुर साजे। जिन्हहि देखि दिसिकुंजर लाजे।। कनक बसन मनि भरि भरि जाना। महिषीं धेनु बस्तु बिधि नाना।।
Hearing the news, the citizens began preparing for the wedding procession, anxiously asking one another about the arrangements. When the confirmed news of departure reached them, all began to weep, like lotus flowers wilting at the touch of evening. Wherever the wedding party was to halt along the route, there abundant provisions were arranged in every manner. Fruits and sweets of countless varieties were prepared. The splendor of the feast defied all description. King Janaka sent innumerable fine provisions, loading bearer after bearer to the brim. One hundred thousand horses and twenty-five thousand chariots were readied, each adorned from hoof to crown. Ten thousand spirited elephants were decorated so magnificently that even the celestial elephants of the eight directions felt humbled at the sight. Golden garments and precious gems filled cart after cart, along with buffaloes, cows, and gifts of every kind.