Again his mother said-for her mind had changed, “Abandon this form, dear son! Play those childish games which are so dear to a mother! Such a joy is incomparable.” When he heard these words, the all-wise Lord of lords became a child and began to cry. Those who sing this lay (says Tulasidasa) attain to the feet of Hari and never fall into the well of birth and death.

For the sake of Brahmans, cows, gods and saints, the Lord, who transcends illusion and is beyond the three modes of Prakriti (Sattva, Rajas and Tamas) as well as beyond the reach of the senses, took birth as a man, assuming a body formed of his own will.

Oh hearing the most delightful sound of a baby’s cries, all the queens came in anxious haste. Their handmaids ran this way and that in great delight and all the people of the city were drowned in joy.

When Dasharath heard of the birth of a son, he was drowned as it were in the ecstasy of absorption into Brahma. With a mind saturated with the highest love and with a body trembling with delight, he sought to rise, while attempting to compose himself.

“The same Lord, whose very name it is a blessing to hear, has come to my house,” he said to himself; and the thought filled his heart with supreme joy. He then summoned minstrels to play their music.

The guru Vasishtha was next summoned and he came to the palace door with a company of Brahmans. They all went and gazed upon the peerless child, who was an embodiment of beauty and possessed excellences more than one could tell.

After performing the Nandimukha Shraddha and all the ceremonies connected with the birth of a child, the king made gifts of gold, cows, raiment and jewels to the Brahmans.