Every Syllable Is Kneaded in Love
Bala Kanda, Doha 119
Doha 119 · Movement 2 of 2
Keep this contemplation
Preserve, print, or share
Parvati bends again and again to clasp Shiva's lotus feet. Her hands join like two pale lotus buds before her heart. The former tension has left her face, and reverence now moves through every gesture beneath the banyan.
When she begins to speak, the words are beautiful not because they have been ornamented by cleverness. Each syllable seems kneaded in the rasa of love, softened by gratitude and made fragrant by renewed faith in Ram.
The dialogue has changed. She no longer questions from concealment or tests what stands before her. Understanding has opened devotion, and devotion now asks to go deeper into the mystery of the Lord's descent.
Holding Shiva's feet, Parvati shapes each syllable from the warm substance of love.
Read the passage from the Manas
पुनि पुनि प्रभु पद कमल गहि जोरि पंकरुह पानि। बोली गिरिजा बचन बर मनहुँ प्रेम रस सानि।।119।।
Again and again clasping the Lord's lotus feet, joining her lotus-like hands in reverence, Girija spoke words of great beauty, as if each syllable had been kneaded in the rasa of love.