One Virtue in the Vessel
Bala Kanda, Doha 9
Doha 9 · Movement 2 of 2
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Tulsidas places his composition before the world without ornamenting its worth. It may be empty of every recognised literary excellence. The vessel may be plain, uneven, and fashioned by an uncertain hand.
Yet it carries one treasure known in every direction: the story and name of Ram. That single virtue changes how the whole work must be weighed. Clear discernment looks past the surface of the container and recognizes the water held within it.
The poet trusts those of pure understanding to listen. They do not require the cup to be gold before receiving what can quench the heart.
The vessel is humble; the name it carries resounds through the world.
Read the passage from the Manas
AI-created devotional illustration · Doha 9
Two unnamed listeners sit beside a blank manuscript and a single steady lamp in a quiet garden.
Source reference and artistic choices
Gita Press code81 undated · PDF pages 32 · printed pages 30. Reader passage: bala-kanda-doha-010. Printed numbering may differ.
Source facts
- Poet claims one world-known virtue for his otherwise meritless composition
- People of pure discernment will consider it and listen
- Following source lines identify Rama's name; this is contextual evidence, not words quoted from doha9
Artistic choices
- Blank folio and single lamp symbolize composition and its one virtue
- Unnamed listeners, reading stand and tranquil garden imagined
An imaginative interpretation, not a historical portrait or documentary evidence.
भनिति मोरि सब गुन रहित बिस्व बिदित गुन एक। सो बिचारि सुनिहहिं सुमति जिन्ह कें बिमल बिवेक।।9।।
My composition is devoid of all merit, yet it possesses one gun (virtue) known throughout the vishva (world): it carries the story and name of Shri Ram. Considering this, those of good understanding and vimal vivek (pure discernment) will surely listen.