Ramayana — Yuddha Kanda, Sarga 46, Shloka 15
शरबन्धनम् (The Binding by Arrows) / Indrajit’s Illusory Assault and the Vanaras’ Consolation
यत्कृतेचिन्तयानस्यशोकार्तस्यपितुर्मम ।।6.46.14।।अस्पृष्टवाशयनंगात्रैस्त्रियामायातिशर्वरी ।त्स्नेयंयत्कृतेलङ्कानदीवर्षास्विवाकुला ।।6.46.15।।सोऽयंमूलहरोऽनर्थःसर्वेषांनिहतोमया ।
yat-kṛte cintayānasya śokārtasya pitur mama | aspṛṣṭvā śayanaṃ gātraiḥ triyāmā yāti śarvarī || 6.46.14 ||
kr̥tsneyam yat-kṛte laṅkā nadīva varṣāsv ivākulā | so 'yaṃ mūlaharo 'narthaḥ sarveṣāṃ nihato mayā || 6.46.15 ||
Seinetwegen verbringt mein Vater—von Kummer gequält und in Grübeln versunken—die drei Nachtwachen, ohne mit seinen Gliedern auch nur das Lager zu berühren. Seinetwegen ist ganz Laṅkā in Aufruhr, wie ein Fluss in der Regenzeit. Dieser eigentliche Ursprung unseres Unheils ist nun von mir erschlagen worden.
"On whose account my father was in grief and spent all night and passed the three parts of the night (without sleep) and why he was unable to sleep was not understood clearly. By his (Rama's) action this Lanka is agitated like a river during the rainy season. He, who is the root cause of this calamity, has been got rid of by me," thought Indrajith.
FAQs
The verse shows how duty to family can be distorted when aligned with adharma: Indrajit frames harm to a righteous opponent as ‘relieving’ his father, revealing the Ramayana’s insistence that true duty must be guided by satya and righteousness, not mere loyalty.
Indrajit reflects that Rāma has caused Rāvaṇa sleepless grief and thrown Laṅkā into turmoil; believing Rāma now defeated, he claims to have removed the root of their troubles.
A contested virtue: filial devotion and strategic confidence are present, but the text frames them under the shadow of adharma—devotion without moral discernment.