Shloka 2.23.1
लक्ष्मणक्रोधः—दैवपुरुषकारविवादः (Lakshmana’s Wrath and the Debate on Destiny vs Human Effort)
इति ब्रुवति रामे तु लक्ष्मणोऽधश्शिरा मुहुः।श्रृत्वा मध्यं जगामेव मनसा दुःखहर्षयोः।।।।
iti bruvati rāme tu lakṣmaṇo ’dhaśśirā muhuḥ | śrutvā madhyaṃ jagāmeva manasā duḥkha-harṣayoḥ ||
As Rāma spoke thus, Lakṣmaṇa listened with his head bowed again and again, his mind repeatedly settling into a middle state between grief and sudden joy.
While Rama was speaking thus, Lakshmana listened to him with his head down, experiencing both grief and joy.
The verse frames an inner ethical tension: devotion and duty can coexist with sorrow. Lakṣmaṇa’s bowed head suggests reverence for Rāma’s dharmic stance even while his emotions resist it.
Rāma has just spoken about the developing crisis around the coronation/exile decision, and Lakṣmaṇa absorbs it, visibly shaken and inwardly torn.
Lakṣmaṇa’s loyalty and humility—he listens rather than interrupts, even as strong emotions surge within him.