Ramayana — Ayodhya Kanda, Sarga 108, Shloka 11
जाबाल्युपदेशः
Jabali’s Pragmatic Counsel to Rama
बीजमात्रं पिता जन्तो श्शुक्लं रुधिरमेव च।संयुक्तमृतुमन्मात्रा पुरुषस्येह जन्म तत्।।।।
bījamātraṃ pitā jantoḥ śuklaṃ rudhiram eva ca |
saṃyuktam ṛtumanmātrā puruṣasyeha janma tat || 2.108.11 ||
For a living being, the father is merely a seed; when semen and blood unite in the mother at the fertile time, from that union a person’s birth occurs in this world.
For a living being, the father is only a drop of white blood (semen). During her menstrual period this is blended in the mother's womb due to which a man is born in this world.
FAQs
It challenges dharma by reducing fatherhood to biology alone, implying that moral debts and filial duty lack binding force—an argument the epic frames as ethically suspect.
Jābāli continues his persuasion by offering a naturalistic account of birth to weaken Rāma’s sense of obligation toward Daśaratha.
Rāma’s commitment to relational dharma (pitṛ-ṛṇa, duty to father) is implicitly tested against purely material explanations.