Shloka 376
गरुद्धिजातिर्धर्मात्मा यदेवं पीडित: शरै: । राजन! उस समय शोकके वेगसे व्याकुल हो मैं बार-बार इस प्रकार कहने लगा --'अहो! मुझ क्षत्रियने यह बड़ा भारी पाप कर डाला, जो कि धर्मात्मा एवं ब्राह्मण गुरुको इस प्रकार बाणोंसे पीड़ित किया”
garuḍdhijātir dharmātmā yadevaṁ pīḍitaḥ śaraiḥ | rājan! tadā śokavegena vyākulo'haṁ punaḥ punaḥ evam uktavān— “aho! mayā kṣatriyeṇa mahāpāpaṁ kṛtam, yat dharmātmānaṁ brāhmaṇa-guruṁ caiva evaṁ śaraiḥ pīḍitam” |
Rāma said: “When that righteous one—born of Garuḍa’s line—was thus tormented by arrows, O King, I was overwhelmed by a surge of grief and kept repeating again and again: ‘Alas! I, though a kṣatriya, have committed a grievous sin, in that I have so wounded with arrows a righteous brāhmaṇa who was also my teacher.’”
राम उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even in a kṣatriya context where weapons are used, harming a righteous brāhmaṇa teacher is presented as a grave ethical transgression; the verse foregrounds remorse and the primacy of dharma and reverence to the guru over martial impulse.
Rāma addresses a king and recalls a moment when a righteous figure (described as of Garuḍa’s lineage) was struck and pained by arrows; seized by grief, Rāma repeatedly laments that he has committed a great sin by wounding his brāhmaṇa preceptor.