Auspicious Omens Surround the Gathering Procession
Bala Kanda, Doha 299
Doha 299 · Movement 2 of 2
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One by one the warriors mount their chariots and join the wedding company outside Ayodhya. What was prepared in separate courtyards becomes a single immense procession.
Auspicious signs appear around the gathering, meeting each traveller according to the purpose for which he sets out. The road seems to consent before the first wheel crosses it.
Every participant carries a different duty, yet all duties enter Ram's marriage. Prince, priest, guard, servant, bard, driver, and bearer receive omens suited to their work. Grace does not flatten their differences. It blesses each function and draws it into harmony, so the many-bodied procession begins to resemble one intention moving toward Mithila.
Before the wheels turn, the world answers each traveller with a sign of welcome.
Read the passage from the Manas
चढ़ि चढ़ि रथ बाहेर नगर लागी जुरन बरात। होत सगुन सुन्दर सबहि जो जेहि कारज जात।।299।।
Mounting their chariots one by one, the wedding party (baraat) gathered outside the city. Auspicious omens appeared for all, favorable for whatever purpose each was setting forth.