Ayodhya Kaanda
61 - Preparations for Sri Rama's installation as the Prince Regent of Ayodhya; the godís concern over the same and their approaching Goddess Sarasvati for help
Chaupais
Description
Extolling Sri Rama's goodness, amiability and noble disposition, the lord of sages, Vasistha, said, thrilling over with emotion, "The king has made preparations for the installation ceremony; he would invest You with regal powers. Rama, You should observe religious austerity today so that God may bring this affair to a happy conclusion." Having admonished Him in this way the Guru returned to the king; while Sri Rama felt uneasy in His heart and said to Himself, "My brothers and myself were all born together and together have we dined, slept and played in our childhood; the piercing of our ear-lobes, (one of the sixteen sacraments incumbent on a Hindu), our investiture with the sacred thread, wedding and all other ceremonies have been gone through together. The only unseemly practice in this spotless line is that the eldest should be installed on the throne to the exclusion of his younger brothers." May this loving and graceful expression of regret on the part of the Lord drive away all suspicion from the mind of His devotees.