Ramayana — Ayodhya Kanda, Sarga 14, Shloka 57
सत्यपाशः
Kaikeyi’s Demand and the Noose of the King’s Promise
क्षिप्रमाज्ञाप्यतां राजन्राघवस्याभिषेचनम्। यथा ह्यपालाः पशवो यथा सेना ह्यनायका।।2.14.56।।यथा चन्द्रं विना रात्रिर्यथा गावो विना वृषम्। एवं हि भविता राष्ट्रं यत्र राजा न दृश्यते।।2.14.57।।
yathā candraṃ vinā rātrir yathā gāvo vinā vṛṣam | evaṃ hi bhavitā rāṣṭraṃ yatra rājā na dṛśyate ||
जैसे चन्द्रमा बिना रात्रि और वृषभ बिना गौएँ शोभाहीन होती हैं, वैसे ही जहाँ राजा दिखाई नहीं देता, वह राष्ट्र शून्य-सा हो जाता है॥
O king Rama's installation may be promptly ordered. As herds without herdsman, army without commander, night without the Moon, and cows without a bull, so is a kingdom without a king.
FAQs
Dharma is the sustaining presence of rightful authority: governance is not merely power but the stabilizing principle that prevents social and moral disarray.
Continuing his counsel, Sumantra heightens the urgency by comparing a kingless realm to natural and pastoral conditions lacking their sustaining counterpart.
Concern for the common good: the minister frames kingship as a necessity for the realm’s well-being, not personal grandeur.