The name lights up a horizon of thought where the celestial meets the terrestrial—a rich, lambent, ambivalent zone. Prefixed by the negative ‘a-’ in a pattern common to Sanskrit, a-yodhya literally means ‘that which cannot be won in battle’, a place beyond the reach of the warrior’s sword. Here, Ayodhya is the human body. The city on the Sarayu, the abode of Rama Dasharathi, is yet to fully emerge from the mist at this point. But Ayodhya is already living its duality, on the cusp between the transcendental and the very, very earthly.

Source: The Hindu January 27, 2024 06:54 UTC