Shloka 7

Sāvitrī-Upākhyāna: Dyumatsena’s Restoration and the Return to Kāmyaka

Conclusion

Devanagari script

यदर्थ निहतो वाली मया रघुकुलोद्वह । त्वया सह महाबाहो किष्किन्धोपवने तदा,'रघुकुलतिलक महाबाहु लक्ष्मण! इसी सुग्रीवके लिये उन दिनों मैंने तुम्हारे साथ किष्किन्धाके उद्यानमें जाकर वालीका वध किया था

Transliteration

yadartha nihato vālī mayā raghukulodvaha | tvayā saha mahābāho kiṣkindhopavane tadā ||

Translation

Mārkaṇḍeya said: “O foremost of the Raghu line, mighty-armed one—remember: it was for this very purpose that I, together with you, went then into the grove of Kiṣkindhā and brought about Vālī’s death.”

Word by Word

यदर्थम्for which purpose

निहतःwas slain

वालीVāli

मयाby me

रघुकुल-उद्वहO bearer of the Raghu lineage (Rāma)

त्वयाwith you / by you

सहtogether with

महाबाहोO mighty-armed one

किष्किन्धा-उपवनेin the grove/garden of Kiṣkindhā

तदाthen, at that time

Speaker

मार्कण्डेय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Mārkaṇḍeya

Rāma

Lakṣmaṇa

Vālī

Kiṣkindhā

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse frames Vālī’s killing as a purposeful, duty-bound act undertaken for a specific end, highlighting how actions—especially violent ones—are evaluated in epic ethics by intention, context, and the dharmic aim they serve.

What is happening in the narrative?

Mārkaṇḍeya recalls the earlier episode at Kiṣkindhā: he addresses Rāma (and implicitly Lakṣmaṇa) and states that Vālī was slain in the Kiṣkindhā grove for the stated purpose, emphasizing the deliberate, goal-oriented nature of that act.