Ayodhya Kaanda
76 - The boatman's love and the passage across the Ganga
Chaupais
Description
When even beasts felt so miserable on being torn away from Him how could His subjects and His father and mother hope to live without Him? Sri Rama dismissed Sumantra against the latter's will and Himself arrived at the bank of the heavenly stream (Ganga) immediately afterwards. He called for a boat, but the ferryman would not bring it. The latter said, "I know your secret; about the dust of your lotus-feet everyone says it is some drug possessing the quality of turning things into human beings. By its very touch a rock was transformed into a charming woman* and wood is not harder than stone. If my boat itself gets converted into a hermit's wife (like Ahalya), I shall be robbed of the very means of my subsistence in that my boat will disappear. It is by means of this boat that I maintain the whole of my family; I know no other trade. If, therefore, my lord, you must cross the river, command me to lave your lotus-feet.