When Sri Ramji reaches Sringaverpura, two especially beautiful episodes adorn the Ayodhyakand. The one is the lengthy conversation between Nishadraj and Lakshman-ji on Vedanta. The discussion extended the whole night through till the break of day. This is known as the ‘Lakshman Gita’. The second occurs the following morning when Sri Ram-ji wants to cross the Ganges and needs a boat. Though this is a very short episode it is very beautiful indeed.

While the ‘Lakshmana Gita’ may be for the joy of the jnani, the Kevat Prasang brings out tears from the eyes of the bhakta. Wonderful indeed that these two should follow one upon the other:  jnana and bhakti are two different paths for the seeker, but which are united in Lord himself, for he is the common goal of both. 

Sri Ram-ji, together with Mother Sita and Lakshman-ji, and accompanied by Nishadraj and others, arrived at the bank of that celestial stream, the holy Ganga.

The Lord called for a boat, which was a mysterious and marvelous play of divine intervention. Despite being the Supreme Lord of the entire creation, he needed a boat at that moment. There was only one boat visible in the waters, and on it stood a boatman named kevat with folded palms. However, the boatman did not respond to the Lord's call, causing a rare and unusual situation.

 

Nishadraj, the ruler of the boatmen, explained the reason behind the boatman's behavior. It turned out that the previous night, the boatman had approached Nishadraj to inquire about the Lord's plans. Learning that the Lord intended to cross the Ganga in the morning, the boatman reminded Nishadraj of a favor he had previously received from the ruler. As a result, he requested that the following day be declared a holiday for all boatmen except himself, who would continue working.

When repeatedly requested to come forward, Kevat replied that he would not provide his service because he knew the secret of the dust of the lotus feet of the Lord. Lord answered that his life was an open book, that there were no secrets. Then kevat replied that he would refresh his memory: Rsi Vishwamitra had taken Lord to what had once been the ashram of Rsi Gautam. There Lord had placed his foot on a stone, which at once turned into a beautiful woman (Ahalya).  So kevat said that he would not allow Lord to touch his boat for fear that it would turn into a beautiful woman.

The Lord tried to reason with him in various ways. His feet had touched many stones in Ayodhya but no sudden increase in the female population was noticed. Kevat told him that his boat would turn more easily into a woman as it was made of wood, a material that was softer than stone. Then Lord said that if the boat turned into a woman he could have her. But kevat replied that in the earlier case, she had gone off with someone else, her husband. When Lord answered that he would ask her to stay with him, kevat rejoined that he would have one more mouth to feed, and he would have to put up with the expected squabbles that would arise between his wife and her, and further, he would have no boat with which to earn a living.

When Lord suggested a career change, kevat answered that it was better for a man to perform his own dharma, and to do that of another was fraught with dangers – the devotee is quoting the Gita to the Lord himself!

Lord found something amusing in the simple replies of kevat, and he smiled. There are but a few instances in the Ramacharitamanas when Lord smiles. Kevat’s intention was to bring a smile to the lips of the Lord, to lighten the burden of sadness that he was carrying in his role as a human being. (Later, we will see that Sri Hanuman-ji plays a similar role.)

But all problems must be brought to an end with proper negotiations. So, what was the way forward? Kevat put forth his proposal: he would ferry Lord across only if he allowed him to wash his feet, in this way washing away the woman-converting magic dust of the Lord’s feet. And even though Lakshman-ji was growing more and more impatient and touching his weapons threateningly, Kevat did not relent.

Further, Kevat said that he would charge no fees. His reasoning is interesting: They both were in the same profession, and so could not charge each other fees for rendering the same service. Thus one barber would not charge another barber for shaving him. This answer puzzled Ram-ji: How could this be so? He was a prince and not a boatman, and the other was a boatman and not a prince. And comes the surprising answer: Kevat says that he carries people across the waters of the Ganga, and Lord carries devotees across the ocean of this world!

Lord was pleased with kevat and looked at Mother Sita and then at Lakshman-ji, and smiled at them.

Some who relate Ram Katha tell us at this point that once when Lord Vishnu lay on his bed of the thousand-hooded Shesha, and Mother Lakshmi was massaging his lotus feet, a frog suddenly leapt out of the milk ocean and onto the snake-bed. Seeing the infinite joy that Mother Lakshmi and Shesha Nag were having as they served the Lord, he, too, was filled with a desire to serve the Lord, to press his feet. Of course, Mother Lakshmi would not allow this. And then there was the danger from the serpent who at any moment could swallow up the morsel before him.

When Lord saw the plight of the frog, and heard the desire in the heartbeat of the frog, he assured him: ‘You will have the opportunity of washing my feet when I appear in my Rama-avatar in the Treta Yug.’  It is this frog that had come as kevat now!

Then Sri Ram-ji asked kevat to do what he thought would prevent the loss of his boat, and to make haste. Kevat paused a moment, and said, ‘Lord, you will be in the forest for full fourteen years. So why the hurry?’

And Lord answered, ‘There are many devotees that are yearning to have my darshan. Not only are my devotees here in the forest, but they extend as far as Lanka itself.’

Then kevat brought a wooden vessel filled with the holy waters of the Ganga. As Lord placed his foot in it, he became a bit unsteady, and so lightly placed his hand on the head of kevat to retain his balance.    

 

Ah, kevat, you who were low-born, now he who is the highest has deigned to touch your head! Blessed indeed art thou. Henceforth, everyone would want to embrace you. By a touch, Lord turns the most low into the most high, the smallest into the greatest.  

What bliss filled kevat as he commenced to wash the feet of the Lord. Ah, what bliss! Here was the very toe which was the source of the Mother Ganga! The gods saw how fortunate this kevat was. Such an opportunity did not come even to the gods. They were filled with envy. But the envy of the gods is unlike human envy: theirs is a sattvic envy and so they sent a shower of flowers upon him.

Having washed the lotus feet of the Lord, kevat sipped the holy water. And then he called his family, too, to sip this nectar that gave immortality. Not only his immediate family, but the souls of his ancestors were all transported across the ocean of life and death.

Then followed all the others, also becoming blessed with a drop of the nectar.

Finally, kevat ferried Lord together with Mother Sita and Lakshman-ji as well as Nishadraj across the great river. When they got off on the other side, he fell prostrate at the feet of the Lord. But Lord became a bit uncomfortable at the thought that now that he was an ascetic he had nothing to give to kevat (despite kevat having told him that he would not take a fee).

Mother Sita was in tune with the mind of the Lord, for there was no difference between them. She cheerfully removed her ring. And when Lord asked him to take the ring as his fee, kevat asked, ‘What is there that today I have not attained?’ The greatness of the giver is revealed when he feels that what he has given is inadequate. And the greatness of the receiver is revealed when he feels that what he has received is far in excess of what he should have received.

But kevat can never be censured for refusing a gift. He said that when Lord returned, he should give him whatever he pleased. And so it did come to pass that when after the period of exile, when Ravan was defeated and Lord was returning with Mother Sita and the others in the flying chariot Pushpak, he did stop there and crossed the Ganga by boat, and paid his fee to that twice-blessed kevat.