Ramayana — Ayodhya Kanda, Sarga 8, Shloka 32
मन्थराकैकेयीसंवादः — Mantharā’s Counsel to Kaikeyī
Ayodhyā’s Succession Alarm
तस्मान्न लक्ष्मणे रामः पापं किञ्चित्करिष्यति।रामस्तु भरते पापं कुर्यादिति न संशयः।।2.8.32।।
tasmān na lakṣmaṇe rāmaḥ pāpaṃ kiñcit kariṣyati |
rāmas tu bharate pāpaṃ kuryād iti na saṃśayaḥ ||2.8.32||
Therefore Rāma will not do even the slightest harm to Lakṣmaṇa; but regarding Bharata, there is no doubt—Rāma would do him harm.
Rama will do no harm to Lakshmana. As for Bharata, Rama will doubtless do him harm.
FAQs
Dharma is harmed when one asserts “no doubt” about another’s ill intent without evidence; the verse is a case-study in how untruthful certainty (asatya-niścaya) can corrupt moral decision-making.
Mantharā contrasts Rāma’s bond with Lakṣmaṇa against an alleged threat to Bharata, intensifying Kaikeyī’s fear to prepare her to demand Daśaratha’s boons.
The true virtue in the background is Rāma’s known righteousness; Mantharā’s speech instead exemplifies the vice of calumny (apavāda).