Shloka 2.88.24
रामशय्यादर्शनम् — Bharata Beholds Rama’s Forest Bed
शून्यसंवरणारक्षामयन्त्रितहयद्विपाम्।अपावृतपुरद्वारां राजधानीमरक्षिताम्।।।।अप्रहृष्टबलां शून्यां विषमस्थामनावृताम्।शत्रवो नाभिमन्यन्ते भक्षान्विषकृतानिव।।।।
śūnyasaṃvaraṇārakṣām ayantritahayadvipām |
apāvṛtapuradvārāṃ rājadhānīm arakṣitām ||
aprahṛṣṭabalāṃ śūnyāṃ viṣamasthām anāvṛtām |
śatravo nābhimanyante bhakṣān viṣakṛtān iva ||
With no watch upon the ramparts, horses and elephants left undisciplined, and the city-gates standing open, the capital lies unguarded—its forces disheartened, its spirit empty, its state perilous and exposed. Even enemies would not choose to seize it, shunning it like food laced with poison.
Now the gates of our capital city (Ayodhya) are wide open. The city is unprotected and endangered. There are no guards to keep vigil over the ramparts. The horses and elephants are not in control (hence unprepared for battle). The army is unhappy and demoralised. At this state even the enemies will not like to seize the city, they will shun it like food mixed with poison.
Rāja-dharma includes maintaining security and morale; when righteous leadership collapses, even victory becomes undesirable because the state itself is poisoned by disorder.
Ayodhyā is depicted as dangerously exposed after Daśaratha’s death and Rāma’s exile, with defenses and military discipline weakened.
The speaker’s realism and protective concern for the polity—recognizing that dharma requires both moral and practical guardianship.