The Ocean of Compassion Speaks the Harsh Words That Complete the Hidden Lila
Lanka Kanda, Doha 108
Doha 108 · Movement 2 of 2
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Because the true Sita had been kept within Fire and the inner witness must now be made manifest, the ocean of compassion speaks words that sound harsh before the gathered world.
The verse does not soften their immediate effect. The demon women who served Sita hear Rama and fall into grief. Compassion is hidden from their sight by the severity of the moment.
The lila holds two levels without allowing either to disappear. Rama knows whom Fire has protected and what must be revealed. The witnesses hear only the apparent rejection of one who has suffered beyond measure. Their sorrow is real within the scene, even while the hidden purpose moves toward vindication. The ocean has not ceased to be an ocean of compassion, but its mercy passes through words whose surface breaks painfully against every listening heart.
Compassion enters a form the witnesses cannot yet recognize, and grief rises around the doorway of Sita's revelation.
Read the passage from the Manas
तेहि कारन करुनानिधि कहे कछुक दुर्बाद। सुनत जातुधानीं सब लागीं करै बिषाद।।108।।
For this reason the ocean of compassion spoke some harsh words. Hearing them, all the demon women began to grieve and lament.