The periods of light and darkness are equal in the bright half and the dark half of the month, but a difference in name has been wisely made by God. The world regards the one as the nourisher of the moon and so honours it, and the other as its emaciator and so holds it in low esteem.

Knowing that the whole universe, whether animate or inanimate, is pervaded by the spirit of Rama, I ever adore the lotus feet of all with folded hands;

(I even do homage to) gods and demons, men and serpents and birds, ghosts and departed ancestors, Gandharvas, Kinnaras, demons of the night – I pray you all be gracious to me!

Eight million four hundred thousand species of living beings, classified under four broad divisions, inhabit land, water and the air. Realizing the whole world to be pervaded by Sita and Rama, I make obeisance with folded hands.

In your compassion look on me as your servant, and in all sincerity be kind and affectionate. I have no confidence in the strength of my own reason, and so I supplicate you all.

I wish to recount the story of Rama’s virtues, but my intellect is slight and his acts profound. I am conscious that I have no skill or capacity; my wit in short is beggarly, my desire imperial.

My wit is extremely mean, my ambition high and noble; I am thirsting for nectar, when not even buttermilk is to be had. Good people will pardon my audacity and listen to my childish babbling,