Valmiki Ramayana 2.61.16: Ayodhya Kanda, Sarga 61, Shloka 16
कौसल्याविलापः
Kausalya’s Lament and Ethical Analogies on Kingship
न परेणाऽहृतं भक्ष्यं व्याघ्रः खादितुमिच्छति।एवमेतन्नरव्याघ्रः परलीढं न मन्यते।।2.61.16।।
na pareṇāhṛtaṃ bhakṣyaṃ vyāghraḥ khāditum icchati |
evam etan naravyāghraḥ paralīḍhaṃ na manyate || 2.61.16 ||
إنّ النمر لا يرغب أن يأكل طعامًا جلبته وحوشٌ أخرى؛ وكذلك راما، نمرُ الرجال، لا يقبل مُلكًا قد «تذوّقه» غيره وتمتّع به.
Havis, sacrificial offerings like ghee, cakes, kusha grass, and sacrificial posts made from khadira wood, once used in the sacrifice cannot be used again.
FAQs
Legitimate rule is not merely possession; it must be morally clean and properly conferred. Dharma rejects benefits obtained through another’s wrongdoing or prior improper enjoyment.
The speaker argues that Rāma will refuse any ‘second-hand’ kingship—one made tainted by prior appropriation—intensifying the warning to the king.
Rāma’s integrity and royal dignity (maryādā): he will not accept compromised power.
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