Doha 20
आखर मधुर मनोहर दोऊ। बरन बिलोचन जन जिय जोऊ॥ सुमिरत सुलभ सुखद सब काहू। लोक लाहु परलोक निबाहू॥१॥
कहत सुनत सुमिरत सुठि नीके। राम लखन सम प्रिय तुलसी के॥ बरनत बरन प्रीति बिलगाती। ब्रह्म जीव सम सहज सँघाती॥२॥
नर नारायन सरिस सुभ्राता। जग पालक बिसेषि जन त्राता॥ भगति सुतिय कल करन बिभूषन। जग हित हेतु बिमल बिधु पूषन॥३॥
स्वाद तोष सम सुगति सुधा के। कमठ सेष सम धर बसुधा के॥ जन मन मंजु कंज मधुकर से। जीह जसोमति हरि हलधर से॥४॥
Meaning
Both the letter-sounds are sweet and attractive; they are the two eyes, as it were, of the Alphabet and the very life of the devotees. Easy to remember and delightful to one and all, they bring gain here and provide sustenance hereafter. (1) They are most delightful to utter, hear and remember and to Tulasīdāsa they are as dear as Śrī Rāma and Lakṣmaṇa. When treated separately, the two letters lose their harmony (i.e., are differently pronounced, bear diverse meaning in the form of seed-letters and as such yield different results); whereas they are naturally allied even as Brahma (the Cosmic Spirit) and Jīva (the individual soul). (2) Good brothers like the divine sages Nara and Nārāyaṇa, they are sustainers of the universe and redeemers of the devotees in particular. They are beautiful ornaments for the ears of the fair damsel in the form of Bhakti (Devotion) and stand as the spotless sun and moon for the good of the world. (3) They are like the taste and the gratifying quality of nectar in the form of emancipation, and are supporters of the globe like the divine Tortoise* and the serpent-god Śeṣa. Again, they are like bees for the beautiful lotus in the shape of the devotee’s mind and are the very like of Hari (Śrī Kṛṣṇa) and Haladhara (Balarāma, who wielded a plough as a weapon) for Yaśodā (Their foster-mother, the wife of Nanda) in the shape of the tongue. (4) * We are told in the Bhāgavata and other Purāṇas how God Viṣṇu assumed the form of a gigantic tortoise in order to support Mount Mandara and prevent if from sinking while it was being rotated by gods and demons in their attempt to churn the ocean of milk and obtain nectar out of it.
एकु छत्रु एकु मुकुटमनि सब बरननि पर जोउ। तुलसी रघुबर नाम के बरन बिराजत दोउ॥२०॥
Meaning
Lo! the two letters ‘R’ and ‘M’ (र and म) forming part of the name of ‘Rāma’ crown all the letters of the Alphabet, the one spreading like an umbrella and the other resting as a crest-jewel, O Tulasīdāsa.† (20) † The letter ‘र’ of the Saṁskṛta alphabet, when immediately preceding another consonant or the vowel ‘ऋ’ is placed above that letter in the shape of a curved line (e.g., in ‘र्क’ and ‘ऋ’); while the nasal consonant ‘म्’ (when preceded by any other letter, is changed into a dot (technically known by the name of ‘Anusvāra’) when placed on the top of that letter (e. g., in हं). The curved line standing for the letter ‘र’ has been poetically compared in the above Dohā to an umbrella and the dot substituted for (म्) likened to a crest-jewel, both of which enjoy an exalted position and are emblems of the royal state. In this way they are recognized as superior to all other letters of the Alphabet.
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