A Lamp Upon the Threshold
Bala Kanda, Doha 21
Doha 21 · Movement 2 of 2
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At dusk, a house stands between two darknesses. One gathers in the rooms within. The other settles across the road, courtyard, trees, and distant fields. Upon the threshold, where inside and outside meet, a small jeweled lamp is placed.
So Tulsidas sets the Ram Name upon the tongue, the doorway between the hidden heart and the spoken world. Its flame travels inward through memory, fear, and desire. The same flame travels outward through word, action, and encounter. No second light is needed.
Whoever longs for illumination in both realms need only tend this lamp.
On the tongue's threshold, one flame illumines two worlds.
Read the passage from the Manas
राम नाम मनिदीप धरु जीह देहरी द्वार। तुलसी भीतर बाहेरहुँ जौं चाहसि उजिआर।।21।।
Tulsidas counsels: place the jewel-lamp of Ram's name upon the threshold of the tongue, at the doorway of the mouth. If you long for light both within and without, this single lamp is all you need.