Ramayana — Ayodhya Kanda, Sarga 61, Shloka 12
कौसल्याविलापः
Kausalya’s Lament and Ethical Analogies on Kingship
भोजयन्ति किल श्राद्धे केचित्स्वानेव बान्धवान्।ततः पश्चात्समीक्षन्ते कृतकार्या द्विजर्षभान्।।2.61.12।।
bhojayanti kila śrāddhe kecit svān eva bāndhavān |
tataḥ paścāt samīkṣante kṛtakāryā dvijarṣabhān ||
Some people, it is said, first feed only their own relatives at a śrāddha; only afterward—thinking their duty done—do they look for the best of brāhmaṇas.
Some first feed their own relatives in shraddha ceremony and thereafter look for the best of brahmins to feed.
FAQs
Dharma includes proper order and respect in ritual and society: honoring the worthy is not an afterthought but a principled priority.
Kauśalyā uses a ritual analogy to argue that what is ‘rightful’ should not be treated as secondary or leftover.
Kauśalyā’s rhetorical wisdom—she frames political injustice through a culturally understood ethical example.