Ramayana — Ayodhya Kanda, Sarga 10, Shloka 23
क्रोधागारप्रवेशः — Entry into the Chamber of Wrath
Kaikeyī’s Protest
स वृद्धस्तरुणीं भार्यां प्राणेभ्योपि गरीयसीम्।।।।अपापः पापसङ्कल्पां ददर्श धरणीतले।लतामिव विनिष्कृत्तां पतितां देवतामिव।।।।किन्नरीमिव निर्धूतां च्युतामप्सरसं यथा।मायामिव परिभ्रष्टां हरिणीमिव संयताम्।।।।
sa vṛddhas taruṇīṃ bhāryāṃ prāṇebhyo 'pi garīyasīm |
apāpaḥ pāpasaṅkalpāṃ dadarśa dharaṇītale |
latām iva viniṣkṛttāṃ patitāṃ devatām iva |
kinnarīm iva nirdhūtāṃ cyutām apsarasaṃ yathā |
māyām iva paribhraṣṭāṃ hariṇīm iva saṃyatām ||
वह वृद्ध नरेश, जो हृदय से निष्कपट था, अपनी प्राणों से भी प्रिय तरुणी पत्नी को—यद्यपि उसके संकल्प पापमय थे—धरती पर पड़ी देखता है। वह उसे कटी हुई लता-सी, स्थानच्युत देवी-सी, धकेली गई किन्नरी-सी, स्वर्ग से गिरी अप्सरा-सी, भटकी हुई माया-सी और बँधी हुई हरिणी-सी प्रतीत हुई।
The guileless, old king beheld his youthful wife who was dearer to him than his own life, filled with deceitful intentions. She looked like a severed creeper, like a goddess fallen down, like a 'Kinnari' thrown down on earth, like an 'apsarasa' slipped from heaven, like an illusion torn, like a female deer tied down.
FAQs
It exposes the moral tension between outward beauty/distress and inner intention: dharma requires discernment (viveka) so that compassion is not exploited by deceit.
Daśaratha sees Kaikeyī on the ground and is overwhelmed; the narrator describes her appearance through a chain of evocative similes.
Daśaratha’s guilelessness and love; the verse implicitly warns that lack of discernment can be a weakness when confronted with adharma.