Moving from Ayodhya, Rama, Sita and Laxman reached the banks of river Ganga. There they saw a ferryman and asked him to row them across the river. But the ferryman refused to offer his boat saying that due to the touch of Rama’s feet, a rock was changed into a lady, Ahilya. He told that he feared that due to Rama’s touch, his boat would change to another woman. And thus his only source of earning would be lost. He suggested to wash their feet before allowing them to enter his boat. Rama smilingly agreed to this. After washing their feet, the ferryman collected the water drained from their feet. He drank some of this water and gave the remaining water to the members of his family to drink. He then rowed them across the river. Sita offered her gold ring to the ferryman as his fees but he refused to take it saying that he did all that because he had identified the Lord. He said that he was blessed to serve the Almighty. He also told that he had attained salvation as he was able to drink the water that touched the feet of Rama, Sita and Laxman.
RAMA AND THE FERRYMAN
