Baal Kaanda
38 - The Lord's manifestation and the delightful nature of His childish sports
Chaupais
Description
Kaikeyi and Sumitra each gave birth to a lovely boy. The joy, grandeur, solemnity of the occasion and the concourse of men were more than what Sarada and the serpentking could describe. The city of Ayodhya wore a galla appearance; it looked as if Night had come to see the Lord and, feeling abashed as it were at the sight of the sun (her own lord), had deliberately stayed over in the form of twilight. Clouds of incense represented the dusk; and handfuls of red powder tossed up and wafted in the air represented the redish light of sunset. The hosts of jewels that gleamed on house tops looked like so many stars; while the round pinnacle on the top of the royal palace corresponded to the beautiful moon. The murmuring sound of the chanting of Veda in the palace resembled the chirping of birds appropriate to the occasion. Gazing upon this spectacle the sun for got himself; a whole month passed without his knowing it.