Vibhishana Sends Rama First to the Ocean as His Ancestral Teacher
Sundara Kanda, Doha 50
Doha 50 · Movement 2 of 2
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The sea before the army is more than a barrier. Vibhishana reminds Rama that the ocean belongs within the memory of the Solar dynasty and may be approached with the reverence owed to an ancestral teacher.
Let the Lord go to the water and ask. The ocean, honored rather than immediately threatened, may reflect upon the need and reveal a fitting means. Courtesy becomes not weakness before immensity, but the first movement of strength governed by dharma.
If the ocean gives its counsel, every bear and monkey under Rama's care will cross without exhausting struggle. Millions of warriors wait behind the decision while waves continue to fold upon the shore. A path for the whole host may begin with one warrior king lowering his head before water.
The first bridge toward Lanka is a bow of courtesy offered to the sea.
Read the passage from the Manas
प्रभु तुम्हार कुलगुर जलधि कहिहि उपाय बिचारि। बिनु प्रयास सागर तरिहि सकल भालु कपि धारि।।50।।
"O Lord, the ocean is your ancestral guru. He will surely devise a way after due thought. Without effort the sea shall be crossed by all the bears and monkeys under your care."