Valmiki Ramayana 2.82.12: Ayodhya Kanda, Sarga 82, Shloka 12
भरतस्य धर्मप्रतिज्ञा तथा रामनिवर्तनयात्रा
Bharata’s Vow of Dharma and the Expedition to Recall Rama
Spoken by Bharata to VasisthaSetting: Ayodhyā sabhāPlaces named: Ayodhyā
कथं दशरथाज्जातो भवेद्राज्यापहारकः ।
राज्यं चाहं च रामस्य धर्मं वक्तुमिहार्हसि ॥१२॥
kathaṃ daśarathāj jāto bhaved rājya-apahārakaḥ |
rājyaṃ cāhaṃ ca rāmasya dharmaṃ vaktum ihārhasi ||12||
Wie könnte einer, der von Daśaratha geboren ist, zum Räuber des Reiches werden? Das Reich und auch ich gehören Rāma; darum sollst du in dieser Sache die Wahrheit des Dharma aussprechen.
Sandhi Notes
- दशरथाज्जातो → दशरथात् जातः (त् + ज)
- भवेद्राज्यापहारकः → भवेत् राज्यापहारकः (त् + र)
- राज्यं चाहं च → राज्यम् च अहम् च (म् + च)
- वक्तुमिहार्हसि → वक्तुम् इह अर्हसि (म् + इ; अ + अ)
How can any usurper of the kingdom be born of Dasaratha? Or, how would anyprogeny of Dasaratha become the usurper of the kingdom? I and the kingdom, both belong to Rama. You should tell the truth about this.
The teaching
Legitimacy is not seized; it is upheld by truth and lineage-honor, and wise counsel must speak dharma plainly.
Duties in tension
- Dynastic honor and rightful succession vs political expediency
- Guru's duty to declare dharma-truth vs courtly pressures
- Ethical theme
- Satya-dharma / succession and counsel ethics
- How it resolves
- Appeal to satya-dharma and explicit self-subordination to rightful king
For your practice
Encourages satya-vāda and humility; supports bhakti-like self-offering to the rightful dharmic center (Rāma).
Mood and themes
- Rasa
- Vira (heroism), with Karuna (compassion)
- Mood
- Unyielding, truth-demanding, honor-bound
Themes
- Dharma
- Satya
- Dynastic duty
- Rajadharma
- Ethics
The statement 'I belong to Rāma' suggests ego-surrender (ahakāra-tyāga) and aligns with the ethic of offering agency to the higher principle (dharma).
Truth-speaking as a duty of the wise (satyam vada) and the primacy of dharma over possession echo Upaniƺdic moral injunctions.
- Bharata and Dasharatha
- Son invoking father's lineage honor (indignant)
- Bharata and Rama
- Self-surrender of kingship and self to elder brother (devoted)
- Bharata and Kingdom
- Trusteeship (rājya belongs to rightful ruler) (detached)
Rāmacaritamānasa Ayodhyākāǚ: Bharata declares himself servant of Rāma and rejects rājya
Dharmasūtra/Smti emphasis on satya and rightful succession
Ayodhyākāǚ: Bharata's repeated insistence that rājya is Rāma's; Ayodhyākāǚ: Vasiha as arbiter of dharma in the crisis
Anuup
Solemn
Firm udātta on 'katha daśarathāj jāto' and 'dharma vaktum'
FAQs
Satya aligned with dharma: Bharata insists that truth must be spoken even in politically charged moments, and that rightful inheritance cannot be overridden by opportunism.
Bharata challenges any narrative that paints him as an usurper and urges Vasiṣṭha to affirm the dhārmic truth that Rāma is the rightful king.
Truthfulness and self-effacement: Bharata refuses to be positioned as claimant and places himself under Rāma’s rightful authority.
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