Valmiki Ramayana 2.74.6: Ayodhya Kanda, Sarga 74, Shloka 6
भरतस्य कैकेयी-गर्हा तथा सुरभि-दृष्टान्तः
Bharata’s Reproach of Kaikeyi and the Surabhi Exemplum
Spoken by Bharata to KaikeyiSetting: Ayodhya palacePlaces named: Araṇya (forest), Jīvaloka (world of the living)
त्वत्कृते मे पिता वृत्तो रामश्चारण्यमाश्रितः ।
अयशो जीवलोके च त्वयाऽहं प्रतिपादितः ॥६॥
tvatkṛte me pitā vṛtto rāmaś cāraṇyam āśritaḥ |
ayaśo jīvaloke ca tvayāhaṃ pratipāditaḥ ||6||
Deinetwegen ist mein Vater dahingegangen und Rama hat im Wald Zuflucht gesucht; und deinetwegen habe ich unter den Lebenden nur Schande erworben.
Sandhi Notes
- tvatkṛte = tvat + kṛte
- rāmaś cāraṇyam = rāmaḥ + ca + araṇyam
- tvayā'haṃ = tvayā + aham
You have caused my father's death and Rama's exile. As for me, I have obtained ignominy in this world.
The teaching
Public honor in kingship is not vanity but a sign of dharmic legitimacy; when it is lost, restitution and truth are required.
Duties in tension
- Protecting family honor vs exposing wrongdoing
- Accepting kingship offered by circumstance vs loyalty to rightful heir (Rama)
- Ethical theme
- Succession ethics and accountability
- How it resolves
- Moral accounting leading toward restitution (seeking Rama, refusing unjust gain)
For your practice
Practice of prāyaścitta-bhāva (atoning mindset) and humility; resolve to repair harm rather than defend status.
Mood and themes
- Rasa
- Karuna (compassion), with Raudra (fury)
- Mood
- Grief-laden, indignant, ashamed
Themes
- Dharma
- Satya
- Ethics
- Itihasa
- Reputation (yaśas/ayaśas)
- Filial duty
Name and fame (yaśas) are transient; yet in vyavahāra they signal alignment with dharma—disgrace indicates a rupture needing rectification.
Bṛhadāraṇyaka’s concern with ‘kīrti’ and ‘loka’ as outcomes of action—here inverted into ‘ayashas’ through adharma.
- Bharata and Kaikeyi
- Son attributing catastrophe to mother (adversarial)
- Kaikeyi and Dasharatha
- Wife’s coercion leading to husband’s death (causal blame) (adversarial)
- Dasharatha and Bharata
- Father-son (bereavement, guilt by association) (sorrowful)
- Rama and Bharata
- Elder brother as moral ideal; younger brother’s loyalty (compassionate)
- Rama and Forest
- Exile-as-austerity setting
Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.66–2.68 (Ayodhya’s mourning after Daśaratha’s death); Rāmacaritamānasa Ayodhyākāṇḍa: Bharata’s self-blame and concern for public dishonor
Itihāsa motif: exile to forest as tapas and political rupture (Mahābhārata Pāṇḍava vanavāsa parallels)
Ayodhyākāṇḍa: Daśaratha’s death following Rama’s departure (2.64–2.65)
Anuṣṭup (śloka)
Solemn
Gambhīra (grave) with downward glide on ‘ayasho’ and ‘araṇyam’
FAQs
Adharma harms not only the direct victim but the entire family and polity: it destroys life, displaces the righteous, and stains communal honor.
Bharata attributes a chain of calamities—Daśaratha’s death, Rāma’s forest life, and his own public dishonor—to Kaikeyī’s actions.
Bharata’s concern for truth and public righteousness: he rejects benefiting from wrongdoing and laments the loss of honor.
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