Page:The Rámáyana of Tulsi Dás.djvu/393



the Brahmanic race; the very root of the tree of piety; the full moon of the sea of intelligence; the joy-giver; the sun of the lotus of asceticism; the destroyer of sin; the dispeller of darkness; the healer of distress; the most auspicious conjunction in the high heaven of wisdom, which scatters the thick clouds of delusion; the sin cleansing; the beloved of king Ráma.

I worship him, whose body resembles a cloud teeming with abundant delights; the yellow-apparelled; the beautiful; the hero with bow and arrows in hand and well-fitted quiver gleaming by his side; with the large lotus eyes; the long tresses of whose hair are bound into a knot on his head, all glorious to behold; the way-farer accompanied by Sita and Lakshman, the charmer of charmers.

O Umá, the saints, who are learned in Ráma's mysterious qualities, enjoy peace of mind; but fools, who are Hari's enemies and have no love for religion, reap only delusion.

I have sung to the best of my ability the incomparable and charming affection shown by the citizens and Bharat: hearken now to the all-holy acts of the Lord, that he wrought in the forest, to the delight of gods, men and saints. Once upon a time Ráma picked some lovely flowers and with his own hands made a wreath, with which he reverently decked Sita. As she sat in her glory on the crystal rock, the son of the king of the gods took the form of a