Shloka 23
कुम्भकर्णस्य प्रबोधनम्
The Awakening and Commissioning of Kumbhakarna
कुरुष्वमेप्रियहितमेतदुत्तमंयथाप्रियंप्रियरणबान्धवप्रिय ।स्वतेजसाविधमसपत्नवाहिनींशरद्घनंपवनइवोद्यतोमहान् ।।6.62.23।।
kuruṣva me priyahitam etad uttamaṁ yathāpriyaṁ priya-raṇa-bāndhava-priya |
sva-tejasā vidhama sapatna-vāhinīṁ śarad-ghanaṁ pavana ivodyato mahān ||6.62.23||
Haz por mí este supremo acto de bien, tú que me eres querido—amante del combate y amado por tus parientes. Con tu propio esplendor dispersa al ejército enemigo, como un gran viento que se alza y ahuyenta las nubes lluviosas del otoño.
Getting up from his seat, Kumbhakarna endowed with extraordinary might bowed down and clasped his brother's feet and asked him, what task he had to do?
FAQs
It dramatizes a dharma-conflict: affection and kinship are invoked to justify violence; the epic’s moral frame insists that right action must align with satya and justice, not merely with what benefits one’s own side.
Rāvaṇa explicitly asks Kumbhakarṇa to annihilate the opposing army, using poetic imagery and appeals to his nature as a warrior.
Martial zeal and loyalty to family are emphasized; the broader Ramayana teaching is that the highest virtue is righteous discernment guiding loyalty.