Valmiki Ramayana 2.75.10-11: Ayodhya Kanda, Sarga 75, Shlokas 10-11
अयोध्याकाण्डे पञ्चसप्ततितमः सर्गः
Sarga 75: Bharata and Kausalya · Reproach, Oaths, and Reconciliation
Spoken by Kausalya to BharataSetting: Ayodhyā palace (women’s quarters/inner court)Places named: Ayodhyā
भरतं प्रत्युवाचेदं कौसल्या भृशदुःखिता ॥१०॥
इदं ते राज्यकामस्य राज्यं प्राप्तमकण्टकम् ।
संप्राप्तं बत कैकेय्या शशीघ्रं क्रूरेण कर्मणा ॥११॥
bharataṃ pratyuvācedaṃ kausalyā bhṛśaduḥkhitā ||10||
idaṃ te rājyakāmasya rājyaṃ prāptam akaṇṭakam |
saṃprāptaṃ bata kaikeyyā śaśīghraṃ krūreṇa karmaṇā ||11||
Tief bekümmert sprach Kauśalyā zu Bharata: „Hier ist das Reich, nach dem du verlangtest — ohne Hindernis erlangt. Ach! Kaikeyī hat es dir rasch durch eine grausame Tat verschafft.“
Sandhi Notes
- pratyuvācedaṃ→prati+uvāca+idam
Looking at Bharata, the deeply afflicted Kausalya said, The kingdom which you had desired has been acquired without any obstacle. Alas! Kaikeyi had quickly secured it for you through her crooked act.
The teaching
Grief can distort judgment; dharma requires inquiry and restraint before assigning motive.
Duties in tension
- Charitable interpretation of Bharata’s intent vs protective suspicion for Rāma’s rights
- Maternal grief vs fairness/justice in judgment
- Ethical theme
- Family ethics / rāja-dharma
- How it resolves
- Unresolved here; sets stage for Bharata’s oath and refusal of kingdom
For your practice
Encourages self-audit: do I project blame under sorrow? Supports kṣamā (forbearance) and satya-saṃvāda.
Mood and themes
- Rasa
- Karuna (compassion), with Raudra (fury)
- Mood
- Wounded, sarcastic, lamenting
Themes
- Dharma
- Ethics
- Itihasa
- Grief
- Legitimacy of rule
Misattribution of agency: grief projects intention onto Bharata; illustrates how avidyā colors perception under sorrow.
Īśa Upaniṣad’s warning against grasping (tena tyaktena): clinging to ‘kingdom’ as possession breeds conflict and sorrow.
- Kausalya and Bharata
- Stepmother addressing stepson with suspicion and grief (accusatory)
- Kausalya and Kaikeyi
- Co-wife rivalry; blame for cruel deed (adversarial)
- Bharata and Kaikeyi
- Son implicated in mother’s act; contested intention (tense)
- Kausalya and Rama
- Mother-son; lament for exile and lost coronation (grieving)
Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.75.10 (same verse; duplicate numbering in some recensions); Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.74.8–9 (Bharata’s denunciation of Kaikeyī)
Rāmacaritamānasa, Ayodhyākāṇḍa: Kauśalyā’s grief and suspicion toward Bharata before his vow of innocence; Mahābhārata: suspicion around succession and ‘unobstructed’ rule leading to moral crisis
Ayodhyākāṇḍa: planned Rāma-abhiṣeka thwarted; Kaikeyī’s boons
Anuṣṭup (śloka)
Grieving
Madhyama with plaintive descent on ‘bat’ and ‘krūreṇa karmaṇā’
FAQs
Dharma evaluates not only outcomes (a kingdom obtained) but the means (cruelty and deceit), condemning power secured through adharma.
This verse repeats/overlaps the prior statement in the Southern Recension presentation; Kauśalyā’s accusation toward Bharata is reiterated.
Moral discernment: Kauśalyā distinguishes rightful rule from rule achieved through wrongful action.
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