The Boatman's Love: Crossing the Ganga

In the morning Ram asked Sumantra to go back to Ayodhya. Sumantra wept, but Ram sent him off with a message to look after his father and mothers. Then it was time to cross the Ganga. In Valmiki's Ramayan, Guha arranges the boat. In the Ramcharitmanas, a much-loved episode happens here: the story of the kevat, the boatman.

In the Manas, Ram asked the boatman for his boat, but the boatman did not bring it. He said innocently, ‘I have heard about your feet. When their dust touched a stone, it became a woman. What if my wooden boat turns into a woman too? How will I feed my family then?’

The boatman said, ‘First let me wash your feet, then I will take you aboard.’ Seeing his clever devotion, Ram smiled, and so did Sita and Lakshman. The boatman brought Ganga water in a wooden bowl, lovingly washed the Lord's feet, and drank that water with his family. Then he ferried all three across the Ganga.

On the far bank, Ram wondered what to give the boatman as his fare. Sita at once took off her jewelled ring to give him. But the boatman folded his hands and said, ‘Lord, today I have received everything. We do the same work: I carry people across the river, and you carry people across the ocean of this world. When I come to your shore, please carry me across too.’

After crossing the Ganga, the three reached Prayag, where the Ganga and Yamuna meet. There the sage Bharadwaj welcomed them and advised that Chitrakoot hill would be a beautiful, peaceful place to live. They crossed the Yamuna and reached Chitrakoot, where Lakshman built a lovely parnakuti of leaves and wood.