Ramayana — Ayodhya Kanda, Sarga 8, Shloka 26
मन्थराकैकेयीसंवादः — Mantharā’s Counsel to Kaikeyī
Ayodhyā’s Succession Alarm
साऽहं त्वदर्थे सम्प्राप्ता त्वं तु मां नावबुद्ध्यसे।सपत्नि वृद्धौ या मे त्वं प्रदेयं दातुमिच्छसि।।2.8.26।।
sā ’haṃ tvadarthe samprāptā tvaṃ tu māṃ nāvabuddhyase |
sapatnī-vṛddhau yā me tvaṃ pradeyaṃ dātum icchasi ||2.8.26||
मैं तो तुम्हारे ही हित के लिए यहाँ आई हूँ, पर तुम मुझे समझती नहीं। जब सौतन का भाग्य बढ़ रहा है, तब जो मुझे देय है वही दान देने की इच्छा करती हो।
I am here to serve your interest. Nevertheless you do not understand me and you wish to confer gifts on me on the occasion of the prosperity of your co-wife.
FAQs
The verse highlights how dharma can be obscured when one’s judgment is clouded by rivalry and resentment; Mantharā frames a moral claim (“what is due to me”) to push Kaikeyī toward adharmic suspicion.
Mantharā is provoking Kaikeyī after hearing auspicious news for Rāma; she rebukes Kaikeyī for reacting with misplaced joy and for offering her gifts instead of recognizing the political ‘threat’ Mantharā alleges.
Negatively, the verse emphasizes the absence of viveka (discernment) and the danger of envy; it implicitly values clear-sightedness and truthful counsel.