Ramayan Part 16 - Ram Meets Guha, The Chieftain Poem by Rajaram Ramachandran

Towards the forest they travelled,
Streams one after another crossed,
Kosala’s southern boundary reached,
At that stage the chariot stopped.

Ram bent his head in prayer,
“Oh, Ayodhya, my father,
And my mother live under
Your most benevolent shelter.”

“A jewel among cities you’re,
To them you give all the care.
After my penance is over,
Let me be under your banner.”

They reached Ganga, the river,
And saw no words to admire,
The beauty of the flowing water,
And for the night, they stayed there.

The chief of the region, Guha,
Came running to greet Rama.
With all his love embraced him,
Extending a hearty welcome.

“Treat this land as your own.
It’s really my good fortune,
At this moment opportune
To serve you, guests of mine.”

“All the time, you stay here,
You need not go elsewhere,
Promise, I shall take care,
For me it’s a great pleasure.”

So said Guha, with his prayer,
Ram took him as his fifth brother,
But politely rejected his offer,
Of a fourteen-year-long shelter.

The night passed as the day broke,
Sumantra, the charioteer took
Leave, with his grief-stricken look,
For his return to Ayodhya back.

Ram then told Guha not to press,
For their stay there endless,
As he was bound by promises,
To live only in forest premises.

As his help Ram sought,
Guha took them in a boat,
To the river’s other side,
They all safely reached.

Guha left them behind,
With half heart and mind,
For three of them to find
A place of rest some kind.

Bharadwaj’s Ashram they reached
The sage’s feet they touched
His hospitality they accepted
And his advice they followed.

To the remote hill, Chitrakoot,
Their onward journey on foot,
Took them near Yamuna River
To their surprise and wonder.

For us, any day, to cross,
The ocean of our life across,
To overcome untold miseries,
We seek for Ram’s kindness.

Notes:
(Even though Guha belonged to a menial caste,
Ram accepted him as his own brother for his
hospitality. Ram was free from the barriers of
caste)