The Four Brothers Return from the Sacred River
Bala Kanda, Doha 358
Doha 358 · Movement 2 of 2
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The four brothers go together to the sacred river. In the quiet clarity of morning they bathe, perform their ablutions, and complete the devotions that order the beginning of the day.
Their purity is described as natural, yet no dignity places them beyond observance. Princes celebrated by gods still enter water, remember the sacred, and honour daily discipline.
When the rites are complete, they return to stand before Dasharatha. The homecoming celebration has passed through night into ordinary morning, and the brothers reveal how sacred life continues after spectacle: through clean bodies, attentive worship, and respectful presence before one's father.
Fresh from sacred water and morning prayer, four sons come quietly before their father.
Read the passage from the Manas
कीन्ह सौच सब सहज सुचि सरित पुनीत नहाइ। प्रातक्रिया करि तात पहिं आए चारिउ भाइ।।358।।
Performing their ablutions with natural purity, bathing in the sacred river, completing their morning devotions, all four brothers came before their father.