Ramayana — Ayodhya Kanda, Sarga 63, Shloka 22
दशरथस्य शोकानुचिन्तनं शब्धवेधि-दोषस्मरणं च
Daśaratha’s grief, karmic reflection, and the remembered ‘śabdavedhī’ misdeed
निपाने महिषं रात्रौ गजं वाऽभ्यागतं नदीम्।अन्यं वा श्वापदं कञ्चिज्जिघांसु रजितेन्द्रियः।तस्मिं स्तत्राहमेकान्ते रात्रौ विवृतकार्मुकः।।2.63.22।।
nipāne mahiṣaṃ rātrau gajaṃ vā ’bhyāgataṃ nadīm | anyaṃ vā śvāpadaṃ kañcij jighāṃsur ajitendriyaḥ | tasmiṃs tatrāham ekānte rātrau vivṛta-kārmukaḥ || 2.63.22 ||
रात में नदी के घाट पर, इन्द्रियों को वश में न रखकर और मारने की इच्छा से, मैं भैंसे या हाथी अथवा किसी अन्य हिंसक पशु को घात करने हेतु अकेला, धनुष पर प्रत्यंचा चढ़ाए, घात लगाए बैठा रहा।
And there, with no control over my senses, I hid in a lonely place with my bow in readiness intending to shoot a buffalo or an elephant or any other wild animal that might come to the spot for drinking water in the night.
FAQs
Dharma demands indriya-nigraha (control of the senses): acting while ‘uncontrolled’ and driven by the urge to kill is presented as a moral fault that invites suffering.
Daśaratha describes lying in ambush at night near a river watering-place, ready to shoot any large animal that comes to drink.
The verse emphasizes the absence of virtue—loss of self-restraint—so that the later tragedy is understood as arising from a lapse in ethical discipline.