Hundreds of Cosmic Ages Pass within Two Gharis of Rama's Play
Uttara Kanda, Chaupai 80
Doha 83 · Movement 1 of 2
Keep this contemplation
Preserve, print, or share
Bhushundi wanders through so many brahmandas that hundreds of kalpas seem to pass. At last he returns to his own ashrama and remains there for a time, carrying a memory too vast for any ordinary measure of life.
Then news comes that his Lord has been born in Ayodhya. Love surges beyond restraint, and the crow rises joyfully and hastens to the birth celebration. There he again beholds the worlds inside Rama's belly and the wise, compassionate child who is master of maya.
Bhushundi thinks again and again, but his intelligence remains wrapped in bewilderment. All the ages of cosmic wandering have unfolded within only two gharis. A little less than one earthly hour has held centuries in universe after universe. Time, like distance before it, cannot explain the Lord's play. The mind reaches for sequence and duration, yet the child in Ayodhya contains both without being contained by either.
Bhushundi returns from hundreds of kalpas and finds that less than an hour has passed in Bala Rama's courtyard.
Read the passage from the Manas
भ्रमत मोहि ब्रह्मांड अनेका। बीते मनहुँ कल्प सत एका।। फिरत फिरत निज आश्रम आयउँ। तहँ पुनि रहि कछु काल गवाँयउँ।। निज प्रभु जन्म अवध सुनि पायउँ। निर्भर प्रेम हरषि उठि धायउँ।। देखउँ जन्म महोत्सव जाई। जेहि बिधि प्रथम कहा मैं गाई।। राम उदर देखेउँ जग नाना। देखत बनइ न जाइ बखाना।। तहँ पुनि देखेउँ राम सुजाना। माया पति कृपाल भगवाना।। करउँ बिचार बहोरि बहोरी। मोह कलिल ब्यापित मति मोरी।। उभय घरी महँ मैं सब देखा। भयउँ भ्रमित मन मोह बिसेषा।।
I wandered through countless brahmandas, and it seemed as if hundreds of kalpas (cosmic cycles) had passed. Wandering and wandering, I returned to my own ashrama, and remained there for some time. When I heard of my Lord's birth in Ayodhya, I arose with boundless prema (love) and joy and rushed there. I went to witness the janma-mahotsava (birth celebration) in the same manner as I had described before. I beheld many worlds within Rama's belly. That sight was beyond all description. There again I saw the wise and compassionate Rama, the Lord who is Maya's master. I pondered again and again, but my mind was enveloped in the darkness of moha (delusion). In the span of just two gharis (about an hour), I had seen everything, yet my mind was overcome with deep bewilderment.