A Bridge of Stone, an Ocean Gone Dry
Bala Kanda, Chaupai 25
Doha 25 · Movement 1 of 2
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Sugriva enters Ram's shelter beneath the forest sky. Vibhishana crosses the perilous air from Lanka and is received before his fear can harden. These two find refuge in the Lord's embrace. Beyond them, the Name keeps opening the same sanctuary to humble beings too numerous for any assembly to hold.
At the sea, bears and vanaras strain beneath mountain stones. Rock after rock descends into the waves until a road rises toward Lanka. Ram chooses an army, accepts its labour, and crosses by a bridge built through devotion. The Name performs another wonder in the secret geography of the heart. The whole ocean of becoming dries beneath it, leaving firm ground where terror had seen no shore.
Ravana and his clan fall. Sita returns beside Ram. Ayodhya blazes with lamps as the Lord takes the throne. Within the chanter, another kingdom is restored. The armies of delusion collapse without a drawn bow, and the devotee rests so completely that anxiety cannot enter even through the gate of dreams.
The stones remain upon the sea, but within the heart there is no sea left to cross.
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AI-created devotional illustration · Chaupai 25
An unnamed devotee walks calmly with prayer beads, evoking the source's closing lines on loving remembrance.
Source reference and artistic choices
Gita Press code81 undated · PDF pages 48, 49 · printed pages 46, 47. Reader passage: bala-kanda-chaupai-025. Printed numbering may differ.
Source facts
- Group compares Rama's refuge, bridge-building, battle and return with Name's grace
- Closing lines describe servants remembering lovingly, overcoming delusion and moving immersed in love without worry
Artistic choices
- Unnamed female devotee selects the concluding remembrance, not a named saint or observable attainment
- Gender, age, appearance, bindi, clothes, beads, gestures, walking pose, garden, pond and temple imagined
An imaginative interpretation, not a historical portrait or documentary evidence.
राम सुकंठ बिभीषन दोऊ। राखे सरन जान सबु कोऊ।। नाम गरीब अनेक नेवाजे। लोक बेद बर बिरिद बिराजे।। राम भालु कपि कटकु बटोरा। सेतु हेतु श्रमु कीन्ह न थोरा।। नामु लेत भवसिंधु सुखाहीं। करहु बिचारु सुजन मन माहीं।। राम सकुल रन रावनु मारा। सीय सहित निज पुर पगु धारा।। राजा रामु अवध रजधानी। गावत गुन सुर मुनि बर बानी।। सेवक सुमिरत नामु सप्रीती। बिनु श्रम प्रबल मोह दलु जीती।। फिरत सनेहँ मगन सुख अपनें। नाम प्रसाद सोच नहिं सपनें।।
Ram sheltered Sugriva and Vibhishana; the whole world knows this. But the Name has honoured countless humble souls. This noble fame shines bright in the world and in the Vedas alike.