The Moon of Rama Rises and Ayodhya's Water Lilies Open
Uttara Kanda, Doha 10
Doha 10 · Movement 2 of 2
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Ayodhya becomes a quiet lake and its women the night-blooming lilies upon the water. During separation, the fierce sun of longing held every pale flower closed within itself.
Now that sun has set. Rama appears as the full moon, round and cooling above the city, and the lilies open at once. Faces unfold toward his light after the long heat of absence.
Auspicious signs arise in many forms. Drums sound from the sky while the Lord moves toward his palace, having made the city's men and women no longer orphaned by his absence. The image gathers an entire homecoming into one change of light. Nothing forces the flowers to bloom. They answer the presence for which their nature was waiting. Rama's return does not manufacture Ayodhya's love. It reveals the devotion that separation had folded tightly inside every heart.
When Rama rises like the full moon, a whole city opens without command, each waiting heart a lily remembering its own nature.
Read the passage from the Manas
नारि कुमुदिनीं अवध सर रघुपति बिरह दिनेस। अस्त भएँ बिगसत भईं निरखि राम राकेस।।9(क)।। होहिं सगुन सुभ बिबिध बिधि बाजहिं गगन निसान। पुर नर नारि सनाथ करि भवन चले भगवान।।9(ख)।।
The women of Ayodhya are like water-lilies in a lake. The sun of separation from Raghupati had set. Now, beholding Rama as the full moon, they blossomed with joy. 9(ka) Auspicious omens appeared in many forms, and celestial drums resounded in the sky. Having blessed the men and women of the city with his presence, the Lord proceeded to his palace. 9(kha)