Valmiki Ramayana 2.63.44: Ayodhya Kanda, Sarga 63, Shloka 44
दशरथस्य शोकानुचिन्तनं शब्धवेधि-दोषस्मरणं च
Daśaratha’s grief, karmic reflection, and the remembered ‘śabdavedhī’ misdeed
Spoken by Shravana to King DaśarathaSetting: Forest ground where Śravaṇa lies fallenPlaces named: bhuvi (earth)
न नूनं तपसो वास्ति फलयोगश्श्रुतस्य वा ।
पिता यन्मां न जानाति शयानं पतितं भुवि ॥४४॥
na nūnaṃ tapaso vāsti phalayogaḥ śrutasya vā |
pitā yan māṃ na jānāti śayānaṃ patitaṃ bhuvi ||44||
Wahrlich, es scheint, als gäbe es weder aus Askese noch aus heiligem Wissen eine Frucht, da mein Vater nicht einmal weiß, dass ich hier liege, zu Boden gestürzt.
Sandhi Notes
- vāsti = vā + asti
- phalayōgaśśrutasya = phalayogaḥ + śrutasya
- yanmāṃ = yat + mām.
'My father does not know that I am lying on the ground. It is true that there is no reward either for asceticism or for scriptural knowledge.
The teaching
Spiritual merit is not a guarantee against worldly calamity; compassion and vigilance remain essential in embodied life.
Duties in tension
- Faith in tapas/śruta as protectors vs harsh reality of suffering and prārabdha
- Son’s duty to serve parents vs incapacity due to injury/death
- Ethical theme
- Karma / suffering / limits of worldly expectation from merit
- How it resolves
- Lament leading toward acceptance; sets stage for curse and karmic closure
For your practice
Cultivate equanimity when outcomes defy expectations; deepen practice beyond transactional merit-seeking.
Mood and themes
- Rasa
- Karuna (compassion), with Shanta (peace)
- Mood
- Desolate, disillusioned, fading
Themes
- Dharma
- Satya
- Ethics
- Karma-phala
- Lamentation
- Limits of human merit
Merit (puṇya) does not always avert prārabdha; worldly outcomes are not reliable measures of spiritual attainment.
Muṇḍaka’s distinction between higher and lower knowledge—śruta alone without realization cannot guarantee worldly protection; also the fragility of embodied life.
- Shravana and Father
- Son longing to be recognized/rescued; father unaware (despairing tenderness)
- Shravana and Mother
- Shared fate through son’s fall (sorrow)
Mahābhārata: laments questioning the fruit of tapas when calamity strikes (various śoka passages); Bhagavad Gītā: karma and prārabdha implications (the inevitability of embodied consequence)
Śāstric discourse on tapas and śruta as sources of puṇya
Daśaratha’s later realization that his own past act bears fruit now (2.63–2.66)
Anuṣṭup (śloka)
Solemn
Low, steady cadence; slight pause after 'na nūnaṃ' to mark bitter realization
FAQs
It questions simplistic ideas of merit guaranteeing protection; Dharma is profound, and suffering can arise even amid virtue—calling for humility and responsibility rather than moral pride.
Śravaṇa, dying, laments that his father remains unaware of his collapse, as if virtue has failed to prevent calamity.
Truthful introspection: Śravaṇa voices an honest spiritual doubt born of grief, not hypocrisy.
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