Shloka 2.23.4
लक्ष्मणक्रोधः—दैवपुरुषकारविवादः (Lakshmana’s Wrath and the Debate on Destiny vs Human Effort)
अग्रहस्तं विधुन्वंस्तु हस्ती हस्तमिवात्मनः।तिर्यगूर्ध्वं शरीरे च पातयित्वा शिरोधराम्।।।।अग्राक्ष्णा वीक्षमाणस्तु तिर्यग्भ्रातरमब्रवीत्।
kin nāma kṛpaṇaṃ daivam aśaktam abhiśaṃsasi |
pāpayos te kathaṃ nāma tayoḥ śaṅkā na vidyate |
Why do you praise this pitiable, powerless thing called “destiny”? And how is it that you harbor no suspicion toward those two wrongdoers?
Shaking his forearm like an elephant raising its trunk, moving his neck horizontally and vertically and casting a pointed and oblique look at his brother, Lakshmana said:
Moral accountability: Lakshmana insists that ethical evaluation should focus on human choices and wrongdoing rather than attributing events to fate.
Lakshmana urges Rama to recognize culpability behind the exile decision, rather than accepting it as destiny.
Justice-oriented discernment—Lakshmana’s refusal to let “fate” erase responsibility.