Ayodhya Grows Thin With One Day Left Until Rama's Promise Ends
Uttara Kanda, Doha 1
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Only one day remains in the appointed exile. Across Ayodhya, men and women have grown thin from separation and stand inside a longing sharpened by the nearness of the deadline.
Then auspicious signs appear everywhere. Hearts brighten as though the beautiful city itself is announcing Rama's approach from all four directions. Kausalya and the other mothers feel a joy like the instant before someone cries that the Lord has come with Sita and Lakshmana.
Bharata's right eye and right arm throb again and again. He recognizes the signs and hope surges, yet thought immediately gathers around the promise whose final hours are passing. Ayodhya stands between emaciation and celebration, still unable to see the chariot but already touched by the current of its arrival.
One day before the vow expires, Ayodhya's grieving body begins to receive the first invisible light of Rama's return.
Read the passage from the Manas
रहा एक दिन अवधि कर अति आरत पुर लोग। जहँ तहँ सोचहिं नारि नर कृस तन राम बियोग।। सगुन होहिं सुंदर सकल मन प्रसन्न सब केर। प्रभु आगवन जनाव जनु नगर रम्य चहुँ फेर।। कौसल्यादि मातु सब मन अनंद अस होइ। आयउ प्रभु श्री अनुज जुत कहन चहत अब कोइ।। भरत नयन भुज दच्छिन फरकत बारहिं बार। जानि सगुन मन हरष अति लागे करन बिचार।।
Only one day remained of the promised time. The people of Ayodhya were beside themselves with longing. Men and women everywhere were lost in anxious thought, their bodies grown thin from separation from Rama. Beautiful omens appeared on all sides and every heart felt glad. It was as though the charming city itself announced the Lord's arrival from every quarter. All the mothers, Kausalya and the rest, felt a surge of joy in their hearts, as if someone were about to say: 'The Lord has come, together with Shri and His younger brother!' Bharat's right eye and right arm began to throb again and again. Recognizing these as auspicious signs, his heart leapt with boundless joy, and he began to reflect.