Valmiki Ramayana 2.43.2: Ayodhya Kanda, Sarga 43, Shloka 2
कौशल्याविलापः · Kausalya’s Lament and the Vision of Rama’s Return
Spoken by Kausalya to DasharathaSetting: Ayodhyā (palace)
राघवे नरशार्दूले विषमुप्त्वाहिजिह्मगा ।
विचरिष्यति कैकेयी निर्मुक्तेव हि पन्नगी ॥२॥
rāghave naraśārdūle viṣam uptvā ahijihmagā |
vicariṣyati kaikeyī nirmukteva hi pannagī ||2||
Krumm wie eine Schlange hat Kaikeyī ihr Gift über Rāghava, den Tiger unter den Menschen, gegossen; und nun wird sie, wie eine Schlangin, die ihre Haut abgestreift hat, zügellos umherstreifen.
Sandhi Notes
- Sandhi resolved: विषमुप्त्वाहिजिह्मगा → विषम् + उप्त्वा + अहिजिह्मगा
- निर्मुक्तेव → निर्मुक्ता + इव. अर्थ-संबन्धः: कैकेयी (अहिजिह्मगा) विषम् उप्त्वा, निर्मुक्ता पन्नगी इव, राघवे नरशार्दूले (सप्तमी) विचरिष्यति।
Moving crookedly like a snake, Kaikeyi has released her venom on Rama, the best among men. Now she will move about freely like a she-serpent that has cast off its slough.
The teaching
Adharma often works like poison—quiet, swift, and disguised; vigilance over desire and counsel is essential in royal dharma.
Duties in tension
- Queenly duty to protect the kingdom’s righteous heir vs personal desire for son’s elevation
- Truthful, compassionate speech vs anger-driven denunciation
- Ethical theme
- Rāja-dharma (governance ethics)
- How it resolves
- Unresolved (lament/accusation)
For your practice
Pratipakṣa-bhāvanā: recognize ‘poison’ of envy and deceit in oneself; cultivate śānti and discernment to avoid harming the righteous.
Mood and themes
- Rasa
- Raudra (fury), with Karuna (compassion)
- Mood
- Bitter, accusatory, venomous
Themes
- Dharma
- Satya
- Ethics
- Itihasa
- Family duty
- Royal household conflict
Poison as avidyā/kleśa that contaminates the antaḥkaraṇa; ‘casting the slough’ parallels the ego’s disguises—adharma persists beneath changing forms.
Muṇḍaka’s ‘two birds’ tension: one suffers (mother/son), one seems to ‘roam’ unbound—ethical blindness vs witnessing awareness.
- Kausalya and Kaikeyi
- Co-wife rivalry; betrayal felt (hostile condemnation)
- Kaikeyi and Rama
- Queen vs rightful heir (harm through boons) (adversarial malice (as perceived))
- Kausalya and Rama
- Mother defending son’s honor (protective anguish)
Mahābhārata: serpent/poison metaphors for deceit (e.g., Śakuni as ‘ahi’ in later retellings); Rāmacaritamānasa Ayodhyākāṇḍa: Kaikeyī-nindā with nāga/viṣa imagery (thematic parallel)
Vedic ahi imagery as danger/deceit (symbolic, not direct citation)
Ayodhyākāṇḍa: Kaikeyī’s two boons and Mantharā’s instigation (preceding sargas)
Anuṣṭup (śloka)
Commanding
Tīvra-madhyama emphasis; sharper cadence on ‘viṣam’ and ‘ahijihmagā’
FAQs
The verse warns that adharma—deceit and malice within the household—spreads like poison. Dharma in a royal family requires restraint, truthfulness, and protection of the innocent, not the unleashing of destructive intent.
After Kaikeyi’s boons have compelled Dasharatha to exile Rama, Kausalya laments to Dasharatha, portraying Kaikeyi as a serpent that has struck and now moves freely.
By contrast to Kaikeyi’s ‘crookedness,’ Rama’s implied virtue is steadiness and righteousness—he is the ‘tiger among men’ who receives undeserved harm yet remains aligned with dharma.
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