Tulsidas Becomes a Fly Beneath the Sky of Rama's Infinite Glory
Lanka Kanda, Doha 102क
Keep this contemplation
Preserve, print, or share
Tulsidas looks upon the immeasurable qualities of Rama and calls his own understanding dull. To speak of that glory, he says, is like a fly attempting to cross the sky with only the strength proper to its tiny wings.
The humility does not stop the song. It establishes the scale between the singer and the one being sung, allowing devotion to continue without pretending that description has contained its Lord.
On the field, Ravana's heads and arms have been cut many times, yet the warrior does not die. Rama continues the play while gods, siddhas, and sages grow distressed at the spectacle. Their anxiety belongs to the visible delay. The poet sees that even this delay exceeds his reach. The infinite sky includes the returning heads, the worried heavens, the Lord's play, and the small honest flight of the voice trying to praise it.
Tulsidas does not wait to become equal to the sky; he offers Rama the full flight his little wings can make.
Read the passage from the Manas
ताके गुन गन कछु कहे जड़मति तुलसीदास। जिमि निज बल अनुरूप ते माछी उड़इ अकास।।101(क)।। काटे सिर भुज बार बहु मरत न भट लंकेस। प्रभु क्रीड़त सुर सिद्ध मुनि ब्याकुल देखि कलेस।।101(ख)।।
What can dull-witted Tulsidas say of His countless virtues and glories? Like a fly trying to soar through the sky with strength suited only to its nature. Though his heads and arms were severed repeatedly, the lord of Lanka would not die. Seeing this distress, the Lord played on while gods, siddhas and sages grew anxious.