Sita's Eyes Move between Ram and the Earth
Bala Kanda, Doha 258
Doha 258 · Movement 2 of 2
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Sita looks toward the Lord, then lowers her gaze to the ceremonial earth. Modesty will not let her stare, and longing will not let her cease. Her eyes travel again between the two.
They are radiant, restless, and filled with feeling. The verse sees them as a pair of Love's fish playing within the bright and gently moving disk of her moon-like face.
The small movement contains her entire inward state. Ram draws the gaze upward. Shyness returns it to the ground. Neither wins for long, so love continues its delicate passage beneath the notice of the assembly. In the interval between glances, Sita waits for the bow to meet his hand.
Her gaze rises with love, falls with modesty, and rises again toward Ram.
Read the passage from the Manas
प्रभुहि चितइ पुनि चितव महि राजत लोचन लोल। खेलत मनसिज मीन जुग जनु बिधु मंडल डोल।।258।।
She gazes upon the Lord, then lowers her eyes to the ground. Her restless, radiant eyes move back and forth, like a pair of Kamadeva's fish playing beneath the swaying disc of the moon.