Shloka 2.63.45
दशरथस्य शोकानुचिन्तनं शब्धवेधि-दोषस्मरणं च (Daśaratha’s grief, karmic reflection, and the remembered ‘śabdavedhī’ misdeed)
जानन्नपि च किं कुर्यादशक्तिरपरिक्रमः।भिद्यमानमिवाशक्त स्त्रतुमन्यो नगो नगम्।।2.63.45।।
jānann api ca kiṃ kuryād aśaktir aparikramaḥ |
bhidyamānam ivāśaktaḥ trātum anyo nagaḥ nagam ||2.63.45||
Even if he knew, what could my father do—powerless and unable to move? Like one tree that cannot save another tree being cut down, he is helpless.
'What can my weak father who has no strength to walk do, even if he knows about it? Like a tree which cannot protect another which is being severed, he is helpless.
It stresses accountability: when the vulnerable cannot remedy harm, the moral burden falls even more heavily on the agent who caused it.
Śravaṇa explains that his father, old and immobile, cannot come to rescue him even if informed.
Clarity and realism: Śravaṇa speaks without exaggeration, using a vivid analogy to convey helplessness.