5 verses · 86 of 326
At dawn the people wake and find Raghunatha gone; a great outcry rises. Finding no chariot tracks, they run every way calling 'Rama, Rama', like merchants whose ship has sunk at sea. They tell one another that Rama left them to spare them hardship. They condemn themselves and praise the fish, which dies when parted from water: shame on a life without Raghubira. If the Creator had to part us from the beloved, why did he not grant death? Lamenting so, they return to Ayodhya in anguish. Only the hope of the fourteen years' end keeps them alive. Men and women take up vows to see Rama again, like the chakravaka pair and the lotus when the sun is gone.
जागे सकल लोग भएँ भोरू । गे रघुनाथ भयउ अति सोरू ॥
रथ कर खोज कतहहुँ नहिँ पावहिँ । राम राम कहि चहु दिसि धावहिं ॥
jāge sakala loga bhaem̐ bhorū | ge raghunātha bhayau ati sorū ||
ratha kara khoja katahahum̐ nahim̐ pāvahim̐ | rāma rāma kahi cahu disi dhāvahiṃ ||
मनहुँ बारिनिधि बूड़ जहाजू । भयउ बिकल बड़ बनिक-समाजू ॥
एकहि एक देहि उपदेसू । तजे राम हम जानि कलेसू ॥
manahum̐ bārinidhi būr̤a jahājū | bhayau bikala bar̤a banika-samājū ||
ekahi eka dehi upadesū | taje rāma hama jāni kalesū ||
निन्दहिँ आपु सराहहिँ मीना । धिग जीवन रघुबीर बिहीना ॥
जौं पै प्रिय बियोग बिधि कीन्हा । तो कस मरन न मागें दीन्हा ॥
nindahim̐ āpu sarāhahim̐ mīnā | dhiga jīvana raghubīra bihīnā ||
jauṃ pai priya biyoga bidhi kīnhā | to kasa marana na māgeṃ dīnhā ||
एहि बिधि करत प्रलाप-कलापा । आये अवध भरे परितापा ॥
विषम बियोग न जाइ बखाना । अवधि आस सब राखहिँ प्राना ॥
ehi bidhi karata pralāpa-kalāpā | āye avadha bhare paritāpā ||
viṣama biyoga na jāi bakhānā | avadhi āsa saba rākhahim̐ prānā ||
राम-दरस-हित नेम ब्रत, लगे करन नर नारि ।
मनहुँ कोक-कोकी-कमल, दीन बिहीन तमारि ॥
rāma-darasa-hita nema brata, lage karana nara nāri |
manahum̐ koka-kokī-kamala, dīna bihīna tamāri ||
Text source: Wikisource · Public domain (Tulsidas, 16th c.; 1925 edition, Wikisource PD-1996 tag); transcription CC BY-SA 4.0
