सिय सोभा नहिँ जाइ बखानी । जगदम्बिका रूप-गुन-खानी ॥
उपमा सकल मोहि लघु लागीँ । प्राकृत नारि अङ्ग अनुरागीँ ॥
siya sobhā nahim̐ jāi bakhānī | jagadambikā rūpa-guna-khānī ||
upamā sakala mohi laghu lāgīm̐ | prākṛta nāri aṅga anurāgīm̐ ||
Bala Kanda
Chapter 247: No simile can match Sita's beauty
5 verses · 247 of 361
What happens in this chapter
No simile can match Sita's beauty
Tulsidas says Sita's beauty cannot be told, for she is Jagadambika, the mine of beauty and virtue. Every simile seems small, being drawn from earthly women, and using them would earn him the name of a poor poet. Sarasvati is talkative, Bhavani has half a body, Rati grieves for her bodiless husband, and Lakshmi has poison and wine for brothers; how compare Vaidehi to them? If there were an ocean of the nectar of beauty, with loveliness as the tortoise, splendour as the rope and adornment as Mount Mandara, churned by Kamadeva's own hands, the Lakshmi born from it might be likened to Sita, and even then only with hesitation.
सीय बरनि तेहि उपमा देई । कुकबि कहाइ अजस को लेई ॥
जौँ पटतरिअ तीय महँ सीया । जग असि जुबति कहाँ कमनीया ॥
sīya barani tehi upamā deī | kukabi kahāi ajasa ko leī ||
jaum̐ paṭataria tīya maham̐ sīyā | jaga asi jubati kahām̐ kamanīyā ||
गिरा-मुखर तनु-अरध-भवानी । रति अति दुखित अतनु पति जानी ॥
विष-बारुनी-बन्धु प्रिय जेही । कहिय रमा सम किमि वैदेही ॥
girā-mukhara tanu-aradha-bhavānī | rati ati dukhita atanu pati jānī ||
viṣa-bārunī-bandhu priya jehī | kahiya ramā sama kimi vaidehī ||
जौँ छवि-सुधा-पयोनिधि होई । परम-रूप-मय कच्छप सोई ॥
सोभा-रजु मन्दर-सिङ्गारू । मथै पानि पङ्कज निज मारू ॥
jaum̐ chavi-sudhā-payonidhi hoī | parama-rūpa-maya kacchapa soī ||
sobhā-raju mandara-siṅgārū | mathai pāni paṅkaja nija mārū ||
एहि बिधि उपजै लच्छि जब, सुन्दरता सुख-मूल ।
तदपि सकोच समेत कबि, कहहिँ सीय समतूल ॥
ehi bidhi upajai lacchi jaba, sundaratā sukha-mūla |
tadapi sakoca sameta kabi, kahahim̐ sīya samatūla ||
Text source: Wikisource · Public domain (Tulsidas, 16th c.; 1925 edition, Wikisource PD-1996 tag); transcription CC BY-SA 4.0