Srimad Bhagavatam — Navama Skandha, Shloka 15
Śrī Rāmacandra-avatāra — Vow, Exile, Laṅkā-vijaya, and Rāma-rājya
Concise Bhāgavata Account
कामं प्रयाहि जहि विश्रवसोऽवमेहं त्रैलोक्यरावणमवाप्नुहि वीर पत्नीम् । बध्नीहि सेतुमिह ते यशसो वितत्यै गायन्ति दिग्विजयिनो यमुपेत्य भूपा: ॥ १५ ॥
kāmaṁ prayāhi jahi viśravaso ’vamehaṁ trailokya-rāvaṇam avāpnuhi vīra patnīm badhnīhi setum iha te yaśaso vitatyai gāyanti dig-vijayino yam upetya bhūpāḥ
My Lord, You may use my water as You like. Indeed, You may cross it and go to the abode of Rāvaṇa, who is the great source of disturbance and crying for the three worlds. He is the son of Viśravā, but is condemned like urine. Please go kill him and thus regain Your wife, Sītādevī. O great hero, although my water presents no impediment to Your going to Laṅkā, please construct a bridge over it to spread Your transcendental fame. Upon seeing this wonderfully uncommon deed of Your Lordship, all the great heroes and kings in the future will glorify You.
It is said that a son and urine emanate from the same source — the genitals. When a son is a devotee or a great learned person, the seminal discharge for begetting a son is successful, but if the son is unqualified and brings no glory to his family, he is no better than urine. Here Rāvaṇa is compared to urine because he was a cause of disturbances to the three worlds. Thus the ocean personified wanted him killed by Lord Rāmacandra.
FAQs
This verse explicitly instructs constructing the Setu so Rama’s righteous fame and mission to defeat Ravana and recover Sita are accomplished and remembered by future kings.
Ravana, though born in the line of the sage Vishrava, acted against dharma through arrogance and violence; therefore he is described as a stain upon his noble ancestry.
Act decisively against wrongdoing, protect the innocent, and let one’s work be grounded in dharma—seeking duty and service over ego and personal gain.