Ram Understands Why Sita Will Not Touch His Feet
Bala Kanda, Doha 265
Doha 265 · Movement 2 of 2
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Sita remembers Ahalya, the wife of Gautama, restored from stone by contact with Ram's feet. The wonder of that grace now creates a tender fear within the bride.
She will not touch his feet with her hands. The refusal is not distance or irreverence. It springs from a playful, otherworldly concern awakened by the power she knows those feet possess.
Ram reads the thought without asking and smiles within himself. The jewel of Raghu recognizes the extraordinary love concealed beneath her modest stillness. In the midst of drums, flowers, Vedic chant, and royal ceremony, a silent exchange passes between them. Her hesitation becomes intimacy because he fully understands its source.
Sita withdraws her hands, and Ram receives the hidden meaning with an inward smile.
Read the passage from the Manas
गौतम तिय गति सुरति करि नहिं परसति पग पानि। मन बिहसे रघुबंसमनि प्रीति अलौकिक जानि।।265।।
Remembering the fate of Gautama's wife, Sita would not touch His feet with her hands. The Jewel of Raghu's line smiled within Himself, recognizing her love as something beyond this world.