Doha 55
राखि न सकइ न कहि सक जाहू। दुहूँ भाँति उर दारुन दाहू॥ लिखत सुधाकर गा लिखि राहू। बिधि गति बाम सदा सब काहू॥१॥
धरम सनेह उभयँ मति घेरी। भइ गति साँप छुछुंदरि केरी॥ राखउँ सुतहि करउँ अनुरोधू। धरमु जाइ अरु बंधु बिरोधू॥२॥
कहउँ जान बन तौ बड़ि हानी। संकट सोच बिबस भइ रानी॥ बहुरि समुझि तिय धरमु सयानी। रामु भरतु दोउ सुत सम जानी॥३॥
सरल सुभाउ राम महतारी। बोली बचन धीर धरि भारी॥ तात जाउँ बलि कीन्हेहु नीका। पितु आयसु सब धरमक टीका॥४॥
Meaning
She could neither detain her son nor yet say ‘Go’; she felt terrible agony in her heart in either event. ‘It seemed as though Brahmā was going to write ‘moon’ and wrote ‘Rāhu’ (the demon who is believed in Hindu mythology to devour the moon during a lunar eclipse) instead through a slip of the pen,’ she said to herself. ‘The ways of Providence are always averse to all,’ she surmised. (1) Kausalyā’s judgment was swayed on the one hand by her sense of duty and on the other by her affection. She found herself on the horns of a dilemma like a snake that has caught hold of a musk-rat*. ‘If I press my son and detain him, the moral code will be violated and bad blood created between brothers, (2) * It is popularly believed in India that if a snake once catches hold of a musk-rat mistaking it for an ordinary rat and latter discovers its identity, it can neither devour it nor disgorge it. For if it devours it, it is sure to die; and if it disgorges it, it goes blind. ‘and if I allow him to proceed to the woods, it will be a grievous loss.’ The queen thus found herself faced with an embarrassing situation and was overwhelmed with grief. Again, realizing the duty of a woman and remembering that both Rāma and Bharata were equally her sons, (3) the prudent Kausalyā, Śrī Rāma’s mother, who had a guileless disposition, spoke as follows with great courage, “You have done well, my child, I swear; a father’s command is the most sacred of all obligations. (4)
राजु देन कहि दीन्ह बनु मोहि न सो दुख लेसु। तुम्ह बिनु भरतहि भूपतिहि प्रजहि प्रचंड कलेसु॥५५॥
Meaning
“That having proclaimed to bestow on you the kingdom of Ayodhyā, your father has now decided to exile you to the woods, does not make me the least sorry. But your absence from our midst will mean a terrible ordeal to Bharata, to the king himself and to the people. (55)
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