The Gods Descend to Witness Ram's Wedding
Bala Kanda, Chaupai 311
Doha 314 · Movement 1 of 2
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Recognizing the blessed occasion, the gods shower flowers and sound celestial instruments. Shiva, Brahma, and divine hosts mount their vehicles in groups, bodies thrilling and hearts eager to witness Ram's wedding.
Janakpur astonishes them. Their own realms appear small beside its canopies, otherworldly arrangements, and citizens rich in beauty, virtue, gentleness, and wisdom.
Gods and goddesses become like stars fading before moonlight. Brahma looks everywhere for evidence of his own handiwork and finds none. The wedding city seems shaped by a beauty beyond the Creator's remembered craft. Heaven has arrived as spectator and discovered that earth, touched by Sita and Ram, can exceed the splendour from which heaven came.
The makers of celestial splendour enter Mithila and cannot recognize their own art anywhere.
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AI-created devotional illustration · Chaupai 311
All8couplets source; selected Brahma wonder unable recognizeowncreation, allgods/vimanas/flowers/fulltown metadataoffcrop.
Source reference and artistic choices
Gita Press code81 undated · PDF pages 297 · printed pages 295. Reader passage: bala-kanda-chaupai-311. Printed numbering may differ.
Source facts
- Gods auspicious flowershowers and KETTLEDRUMS, Shiva Brahma divinegroups vimanas travel see Rama wedding.
- Janakpur beautiful ownworlds seemsmall, extraordinarycanopies, townmenwomen beautiful skillful virtuous gentle wise.
- Gods ANDgoddesses starsinmoonlight simile notliteralstars; Brahma can't recognize ANY owncreation astonished.
Artistic choices
- Threevisible crowned greywhitebearded heads fourthrear conventionnotvisible. FOURdistinctownhands fronttwoNAMASTE rearLEFTrosary rearRIGHTONEclosedplaincream goldmanuscript. Fourforearms clear upperarms garb partlyoccluded. FrontopeneyesUPRIGHT PARTEDgentlemouth. Pinkcreamgoldrobe pearls rubyjewels crimsonflatfield sparsegoldpetals creamarch no otherfigures. Waistcrop no fulllegs/divineanatomy historiccert.
- Exact poses/gazes/numericalages/clothes/ornamentcounts/geargeometryfastening/materials/spatialframing artistchoices not history or wholeparticipant/anatomy/motion/audible/emotionmotive census. Fullsourceoffcrop facts retained noabsenceinference/corpuscorrection/inventedHindi/publishing. Source comparisons/characterinsults/threats not physicaltransformations/violentevents.
- Fourthrearhead unseen approvediconographicconvention notcompletevisible4headcert. Rosary/manuscriptartist attributes notnew sourcewrittencontent. First3hand output preserved labelleddraft not originalrecovery regeneration.
An imaginative interpretation, not a historical portrait or documentary evidence.
सुरन्ह सुमंगल अवसरु जाना। बरषहिं सुमन बजाइ निसाना।। सिव ब्रह्मादिक बिबुध बरूथा। चढ़े बिमानन्हि नाना जूथा।। प्रेम पुलक तन हृदयँ उछाहू। चले बिलोकन राम बिआहू।। देखि जनकपुरु सुर अनुरागे। निज निज लोक सबहिं लघु लागे।। चितवहिं चकित बिचित्र बिताना। रचना सकल अलौकिक नाना।। नगर नारि नर रूप निधाना। सुघर सुधरम सुसील सुजाना।। तिन्हहि देखि सब सुर सुरनारीं। भए नखत जनु बिधु उजिआरीं।। बिधिहि भयह आचरजु बिसेषी। निज करनी कछु कतहुँ न देखी।।
The gods recognized this as a blessed occasion and showered flowers while sounding celestial trumpets. Shiva, Brahma and hosts of other deities mounted their various celestial vehicles in groups. With bodies thrilling in love and hearts brimming with joy, they set forth to witness Rama's wedding. Seeing Janakpur, the gods were filled with love; their own heavenly realms seemed small in comparison. They gazed in wonder at the marvelous canopies and all the extraordinary, otherworldly arrangements. The men and women of the city were treasures of beauty, graceful and virtuous, gentle and wise. Seeing them, all the gods and goddesses became like stars dimmed by the radiance of the moon. Brahma was especially astonished, for nowhere could he find any trace of his own handiwork.