Today's Beautiful Gem: `Rama's Separation' by an anonymous author.

"saumitre nanu sevyatAm tarutalaM caNDAMs'ur ujjRmbhate
caNDAMs'or nis'i kA kathA raghupate candro 'yam unmIlatI
vatsaitad viditaM kathaM nu bhavatA dhatte kurangaM yatah:
kvAsi preyasi hA kuranganayane candranane jAnakI"

"O Lakshmana, the sun is shining fiercely, let us rest under a tree;
O Rama, how can the sun shine in the night, it is the moon shining;
Dear Lakshmana, how do you know I see the deer there on the moon?
Alas, my Love, my dear Sita with eyes of the deer and face of the moon!"

Note: This verse is said to be quoted in Appaya Dikshita's kuvalayAnanda. After Sita was abducted by Ravana, Rama with his brother Lakshmana was wandering in the forests of danaDaka. He was so smitten with the separation from his love that the moon beams felt like the hot rays of the sun. The moment Lakshmana mentions the word moon, Rama was reminded of the moon face of doe-eyed Sita. The deer also reminds one of the root of the problem, viz., the chasing of mArIca in the form of the false deer that led to Sita's abduction in the first place.

Om s'aantih: Peeace! - J. K. Mohana Rao

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