Ramayana — Ayodhya Kanda, Sarga 96, Shloka 23
चित्रकूटे सैन्यधूलिशब्ददर्शनम्
Alarm at Chitrakūṭa: Lakṣmaṇa sights the approaching army
यन्निमित्तं भवान्राज्याच्छ्युतो राघव शाश्वतात्।।2.96.23।।सम्प्राप्तोऽयमरिर्वीर भरतो वध्य एव मे।
yannimittaṃ bhavān rājyāc chyuto rāghava śāśvatāt || 2.96.23 || samprāpto ’yam arir vīra bharato vadhya eva me |
O Rāghava, for whose sake you were cast out from the enduring kingdom—here that very Bharata has arrived as an enemy. O mighty one, to me he is fit only to be slain.
O Rama, I do not see anything wrong in slaying Bharata. In killing one who had done harm is not an act of unrighteousness.
FAQs
The verse dramatizes the danger of adharma through hasty judgment: assuming guilt and prescribing violence without full knowledge violates dharmic restraint.
Seeing the approaching forces, Lakṣmaṇa interprets Bharata’s arrival as hostile and urges lethal action.
Loyalty, though expressed as excessive wrath—showing how devotion must be balanced by discernment (viveka).