Baal Kaanda
14 - The metaphorical representation of the Manasa as a lake and its glory
Chaupais
Description
Even if anyone makes his way to it undergoing so much hardship, he is forthwith attacked by ague in the shape of drowsiness. Benumbing cold in the shape of stupor overtakes his heart, so that the unhappy soul is deprived of a dip even after reaching there. Finding himself unable to take a plunge into the lake or to drink from it, he returns with a feeling of pride. And if anyone comes to inquire about the lake, he tries to satisfy him by vilifying it. All these obstacles do not, however, deter him whom Sri Rama regards with overwhelming kindness. He alone reverently bathes in the lake and thus escapes the threefold agony* of the fiercest kind. Those men who cherish ideal devotion to the feet of Sri Rama never quit this lake. Let him who would bathe in this lake, brother, diligently practise Satsarga (association with saints). Having seen the said Mnasa lake with the minds eye and taken a dip into it, the poets intellect got purged of all its dross. The heart was flooded with joy and alacrity and a torrent of love and rapture welled from it. Thence flowed a stream of beautiful poetry, carrying the water of Sri Ramas fair renown. Sarayu is the name of this river, which is the very fountain of pure bliss. The secular view-point and the view-point of the Vedasthere represent its two charming banks. This holy stream, issuing as it does from the beautiful Mnasa lake, uproots in its course all the impurities of the Kali age, whether in the form of tiny blades of grass or of mighty trees. (1-7)