Shloka 2.63.22
दशरथस्य शोकानुचिन्तनं शब्धवेधि-दोषस्मरणं च (Daśaratha’s grief, karmic reflection, and the remembered ‘śabdavedhī’ misdeed)
निपाने महिषं रात्रौ गजं वाऽभ्यागतं नदीम्।अन्यं वा श्वापदं कञ्चिज्जिघांसु रजितेन्द्रियः।तस्मिं स्तत्राहमेकान्ते रात्रौ विवृतकार्मुकः।।2.63.22।।
nipāne mahiṣaṃ rātrau gajaṃ vā ’bhyāgataṃ nadīm | anyaṃ vā śvāpadaṃ kañcij jighāṃsur ajitendriyaḥ | tasmiṃs tatrāham ekānte rātrau vivṛta-kārmukaḥ || 2.63.22 ||
At a watering-place by the river at night, my senses unrestrained and intent on killing, I lay in wait alone with my bow strung—thinking to shoot a buffalo, or an elephant, or some other wild beast that might come to drink.
And there, with no control over my senses, I hid in a lonely place with my bow in readiness intending to shoot a buffalo or an elephant or any other wild animal that might come to the spot for drinking water in the night.
Dharma demands indriya-nigraha (control of the senses): acting while ‘uncontrolled’ and driven by the urge to kill is presented as a moral fault that invites suffering.
Daśaratha describes lying in ambush at night near a river watering-place, ready to shoot any large animal that comes to drink.
The verse emphasizes the absence of virtue—loss of self-restraint—so that the later tragedy is understood as arising from a lapse in ethical discipline.