Valmiki Ramayana 2.21.32: Ayodhya Kanda, Sarga 21, Shloka 32

अयोध्याकाण्डे एकविंशः सर्गः · Lakṣmaṇa’s militant counsel and Rāma’s dharma

based persuasion of Kausalyā

Spoken by Rama to KausalyaSetting: Ayodhya palace context (speech setting)Places named: Araṇya (forest)

Devanagari script

जामद्ग्न्येन रामेण रेणुका जननी स्वयम् ।

कृत्ता परशुनाऽरण्ये पितुर्वचनकारिणा ॥३२॥

Recitation with translationValmiki Ramayana 2.21.32

Transliteration

jāmadagnyena rāmeṇa reṇukā jananī svayam |

kṛttā paraśunā ’raṇye pitur vacana-kāriṇā ||32||

Translation

Rāma Jāmadagnya (Paraśurāma) himself, obeying his father’s word, cut down his own mother Reṇukā in the forest with an axe.

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Word by Word

• जामद्ग्न्येन: by Jamadagni's son
• Type: Noun
• Root: jāmadagnya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया, एकवचन
• Role: Karta (कर्ता)

• रामेण: by Rama (Parashurama)
• Type: Noun
• Root: rāma (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया, एकवचन (Parashurama)
• Role: Karta (कर्ता)

• रेणुका: Renuka
• Type: Noun
• Root: reṇukā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन
• Role: Karta (कर्ता)

• जननी: mother
• Type: Noun
• Root: jananī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन
• Role: Karta (कर्ता)

• स्वयम्: herself
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: svayam (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (reflexive adverb): ‘himself/by oneself’
• Role: Sambandha (सम्बन्धः)

• कृत्ता: was severed
• Type: Verb
• Root: kṛtta (कृदन्त; √kṛt कृन्त्)
• Form: भूतकृदन्त (क्त), स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; कर्मणि प्रयोग: ‘was cut/severed’ (agreeing with रेणुका)
• Role: Kriya (क्रिया)

• परशुना: with an axe
• Type: Noun
• Root: paraśu (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया, एकवचन
• Role: Karana (करण)

• अरण्ये: in the forest
• Type: Noun
• Root: araṇya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी, एकवचन
• Role: Adhikarana (अधिकरण)

• पितुः: of (his) father
• Type: Noun
• Root: pitṛ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी, एकवचन
• Role: Sambandha (सम्बन्धः)

• वचनकारिणा: obedient to the command
• Type: Adjective
• Root: vacana (प्रातिपदिक) + kārin (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तत्पुरुष-समास: ‘one who does (another's) word’; पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया, एकवचन (agreeing with रामेण)
• Role: Karta (कर्ता)
• Compound: Tatpurusha

Sandhi Notes

• परशुनाऽरण्ये = परशुना + अरण्ये
• पितुर्वचनकारिणा = पितुः + वचनकारिणा

Context

Parasurama, son of Jamadagni himself in obedience to the words of his father, decapitated his mother Renuka in the forest with an axe.

The teaching

Some traditions elevate pitṛ-vākya to an absolute, even at unbearable personal cost—highlighting dharma’s tragic complexity and the need for discernment in applying precedent.

Duties in tension

• Obedience to father (pitṛ-śuśrūṣā)
• Non-violence and protection of mother
• Moral autonomy vs commanded act

Ethical theme

Tragic duty-conflict (dharma-sankata)

How it resolves

Obedience prioritized as exemplar (though ethically extreme)

For your practice

Contemplation on obedience, restraint, and the dangers of rigid literalism; prompts prayer for viveka and compassion.

Mood and themes

Rasa

Karuna (compassion), with Raudra (fury)

Mood

Grim, austere, shattering

Themes

• Dharma
• Pitṛ-vākya
• Itihasa
• Ethics
• Extreme obedience

Symbolism

Relationships

Cross references

Meter and recitation

Characters & Entities

• Parasurama (Rama Jāmadagnya)
• Jamadagni
• forest (araṇya)
• axe (paraśu)

FAQs

What is the core ethical principle (Dharma) in this verse?

It presents an extreme exemplar of obedience to a father’s command, used rhetorically to argue that pitṛ-vākya was treated as a decisive dharmic imperative in traditional memory.

What is the narrative situation?

Rama continues listing renowned precedents to justify his own acceptance of Daśaratha’s order.

Which character virtue is emphasized?

Uncompromising obedience and discipline (niyama) framed as fidelity to duty.