Meditation on the Sarayu
18. Nearby, the Sarayu carries her brilliantly pure current. All know this generous river to be a ship for crossing the ocean of worldly existence.
मूल पाठ 18 निकटहि सरजू सरित धरे अस उज्ज्वल धारा । भवसागर को तरन विदित यह पोत उदारा ॥१८॥
Context and commentary
The poet now meditates upon the glory and power of Sri Sarayu, the jeweled necklace that adorns Ayodhya.
The gardens and groves lie close to Avadh, and immediately beside those gardens flows Sri Sarayu. Her name means "she who arose from the divine lake." She bears a brilliantly pure current: either the form of the white, tranquil rasa or the radiant form of love's rasa. The rasa of love is said to be eye-born, and the Sarayu likewise arose from Sri Rama's eyes. This river is, as the Vedas proclaim, the generous and renowned ship by which one crosses the ocean of samsara.
"Generous" means that she obstructs no one - high or low, virtuous or sinful. Anyone may board or leave without payment. The Lord's own words are testimony:
By bathing in her, a person effortlessly obtains residence near me beyond the stream of worldly existence.
Her generosity is further described:
Kavitta
Hearing again and again the pure Sarayu's name, qualities, and glories, all the world's men and women depart for Rama's abode. At Yama's gate the hosts of death wail and seize at nothing; unable to catch even sinners, they beat their heads in regret.
Dwelling upon her bank, every limb thrills with joy, says Rasrangamani, reflecting again and again on the greatness of Rama's Ganga. Raising her fluid waves like hands to carry souls across, she seems to call sinners to herself again and again.
Bathing in and drinking from her is like boarding the boat; reaching the opposite shore belongs alike to river and ship. This is verse 18.
19. She destroys sin and the three kinds of suffering and grants the heart's rightful prayer. For the meritorious she is a firm, beautiful stairway ascending to Vaikuntha.
मूल पाठ 19 हरन पाप त्रय ताप जनन चितत फल देनी । सुकृती जन आरोह सुदृढ़ बैकुण्ठ निसेनी ॥१९॥
Commentary
Sri Sarayu's current destroys the three kinds of sin - those committed by action, speech, and mind - and the three kinds of affliction: suffering arising within oneself, suffering caused by divine or cosmic forces, and suffering caused by other beings and material conditions. When people pray to her with contemplation, remembrance of her name, and loving devotion, she grants all four aims of life. For meritorious souls she is a beautiful, firm staircase by which to ascend to Vaikuntha.
Those blessed people who regard Sri Sarayu as Rama's own form, know her water to consist of Rama's grace, and daily behold, worship, bathe in, and drink from her seem already to be climbing the steps to Vaikuntha. At the end of life they will reach that divine abode. "Meritorious" implies that love for Sri Sarayu does not arise without the virtue accumulated through many births. "Firm" shows that she is an unwavering means to the Lord.
Here Vaikuntha does not refer only to Vishnu's particular world. It has the same meaning as the supreme abode Ayodhya. That which cannot be conquered in battle by time and the other powers is called Ayodhya; that which cannot be checked, wounded, or destroyed by time and the other powers is called Vaikuntha. Both mean the supreme abode Ayodhya. As it is said, "Listen, dull-minded one: the world of Vaikuntha..."
Objection: First the Sarayu was called a ship across the ocean of samsara; why is she now called a stairway to Vaikuntha?
Answer: The first image describes the general liberation she gives to both the unmeritorious and meritorious - freedom from birth and death. The second describes the special liberation she gives the meritorious: attainment of Vaikuntha and nearness to Sri Rama. Let the wise understand the further implications. This is verse 19.
20. Crowds of people gather along her banks, making a supremely lovely sight. They seem to be immortals who have left heaven to come and serve the Sarayu.
मूल पाठ 20 तीर नरन की भीर लगत अस परम सुहाये । मनहुँ व्योम को त्यागि अमरगन सेवन आये ॥२०॥
Commentary
Crowds of people bathing gather on Sri Sarayu's bank. They appear so beautiful that they seem to be Indra and the other immortals who have abandoned heaven to come serve her. This suggests that the forms and radiance of Avadh's residents equal those of Indra and the gods, and that Sri Sarayu's greatness exceeds that of the celestial Ganga. This is verse 20.
21. Blessed and greatly fortunate are those who bathe in and drink her waters. Her many kinds of ghats arrest and enchant even the minds of sages.
मूल पाठ 21 करें जो मज्जन पान धन्य बड़ भाग जनन के । विविध भाँति के घाट तहाँ मन थकित मुनिन के ॥२१॥
Commentary
The poet briefly praises and admires those who love Sri Sarayu: ah, greatly fortunate and blessed are those who bathe in and drink from her every day! These words also reveal his own grief at being separated from the direct daily experience of bathing and drinking there.
Sri Sarayu has many kinds of ghats, constructed separately for the four social orders and separately for women, all bound with gold and jewels. Seeing their beauty, even the naturally detached minds of sages are enchanted and brought to a standstill. This is verse 21.
22. Her waters are profoundly deep, and their movement resounds with a grave music. Along her banks, dense clusters of exquisite lotuses shine.
मूल पाठ 22 नीर परम गंभीर चलत गहिरे सुर गाजै । तहाँ तीर बहु सघन कमल अति सुन्दर राजै ॥२२॥
Commentary
Sri Sarayu's water is profoundly deep. As it moves, it roars with a grave sound, like a lion roaring to drive away elephant-like sins. Near the constructed ghats, many dense clusters of red, white, yellow, and blue lotuses shine beautifully along the bank. They are exceedingly beautiful: like temples of Lakshmi, and yet even more like the bodies, hands, feet, and eyes of Sri Sita-Rama.
One should not doubt that lotuses could remain in the current. In Satya Yuga and Treta Yuga, the power of the Sarayu, Ganga, and the other sacred rivers was openly manifest; therefore the flow did not sweep the flowers away. The lotuses remained blooming. This is verse 22.
23. Swarms of bees hum from the heart of every lotus. They sound like assemblies of sages reciting the resonant words of the Vedas.
मूल पाठ 23 कमल कमल के मध्य जूथ मिलि भँवर गुंजारैं । मानहुँ मुनिजन वृन्द वेदधुनि शब्द उचारैं ॥२३॥
Commentary
Many swarms of bees gather within every lotus. Drinking nectar, colored by pollen, intoxicated and delighted, they hum. They seem like assemblies of sages reciting the sounds of the Vedas. The comparison concerns the combined, pleasing resonance of many bees. Goswami Ji says the same in the Gitavali:
Among rows of blossoming lotuses move masses of bees, humming a lovely, tender music and leaving no lotus apart. It is as though servants, having attained detachment and abandoned the home that is a well of sorrow, wander intoxicated with love, repeating your virtues.
This is verse 23. [Gitavali, Bala Kanda, song 38, "Awake, Treasury of Grace, Janaki's Lord Ramachandra." - Shatrughna Sharan]
24. Threefold breezes play there day and night, removing inner impurity. Cool, gentle, and fragrant, they bestow the highest joy.
मूल पाठ 24 त्रिविध बयारि विहार बहुत निसि दिन अघहारी । सीतल मंद सुगंध परम अति आनँदकारी ॥२४॥
Commentary
Three kinds of breeze blow day and night in playful movement, removing sin and sorrow. The second line explains the three: they are cool, gentle, and fragrant - scented with sandal from the Malaya mountains and with the flowers of Avadh's gardens after passing over the bathing places of Sri Sarayu.
They are supremely cool, fragrant, gentle, and bliss-giving. They destroy impurity because the Sarayu's water and the garden flowers have been sanctified by contact with the beautiful limbs of Sri Sita-Rama and their entire retinue. The wind that carries their fragrance therefore purifies the body, the dwelling, and the inner heart. This is verse 24.
25. Chakva birds call beside the pools and increase the heart's delight. They seem like choirs of Gandharvas assembled in a holy place to sing.
मूल पाठ 25 बोलत चकवा कुण्ड तीर मन मोद बढ़ावैं । मानहुँ परम सुदेस निकर मिलि गंधर्व गावैं ॥२५॥
Commentary
Chakva birds call upon the banks of the deep pools of Sri Sarayu - Lakshmana Kunda, Nirmali Kunda, and others within the river, and Sita Kunda, Vidya Kunda, and others beyond it. Hearing them increases the heart's delight. They seem like companies of Gandharvas gathered in groups, singing the virtues of Sri Sita-Ramachandra with fine voice, raga, rhythm, and composition in a beautiful and sacred place. This is verse 25.