Ramayana — Ayodhya Kanda, Sarga 12, Shloka 106
द्वादशः सर्गः — Kaikeyi’s Boons and Dasaratha’s Moral Collapse
Ayodhya Kanda 12
विनाऽपि सूर्येण भवेत्प्रवृत्तिरवर्षता वज्रधरेण वाऽपि।रामं तु गच्छन्तमित स्समीक्ष्य जीवेन्न कश्चित्त्विति चेतना मे।।।।
vinā ’pi sūryeṇa bhavet pravṛttir avarṣatā vajradhareṇa vā ’pi |
rāmaṃ tu gacchantam itaḥ samīkṣya jīven na kaścit tv iti cetanā me ||
Selbst wenn der Lauf der Welt ohne die Sonne fortgehen könnte, oder wenn Indra, der Donnerkeilträger, den Regen zurückhielte — ich bin gewiss: Niemand würde weiterleben, nachdem er Rāma von hier fortgehen sah.
Alas I carried all along on my lap a highly poisonous female snake I gave you shelter while you were like death .This delusion is the cause of my ruin.You were my enemy. You wished me harm. You wished my destruction.
FAQs
It underscores the moral weight of a righteous heir: Rāma’s departure is portrayed as a civilizational loss, implying that dharmic leadership sustains society as surely as cosmic forces do.
Daśaratha, devastated by Kaikeyī’s demand that Rāma be exiled, expresses that life itself seems impossible if he must witness Rāma leaving Ayodhyā.
Rāma’s perceived indispensability as a dharmic presence—his virtue is so central that Daśaratha equates his loss with cosmic collapse.