Valmiki Ramayana 2.105.17: Ayodhya Kanda, Sarga 105, Shloka 17
भरतस्य प्रार्थना · रामस्य कालधर्मोपदेशः
Bharata’s Petition and Rama’s Instruction on Time and Mortality
Spoken by Lakshmana to Rama
यथा फलानां पक्वानां नान्यत्र पतनाद्भयम् ।
एवं नरस्य जातस्य नान्यत्र मरणाद्भयम् ॥१७॥
yathā phalānāṃ pakvānāṃ nānyatra patanād bhayam |
evaṃ narasya jātasya nānyatra maraṇād bhayam ||17||
जैसे पक्का फल गिरने के इलावा किसी चीज़ का डर नहीं रखता। वैसे ही जो इंसान पैदा हुआ है, उसके लिए मौत के इलावा कोई डर नहीं है।
Sandhi Notes
- na + anyatra → nānyatra
- patanāt + bhayam → patanādbhayam (t + bh → dbh sandhi)
- maraṇāt + bhayam → maraṇādbhayam
The only fear of a ripened fruit is the fear of falling down (from the tree). In the same way every man who is born has no other fear except the fear of death.
The teaching
For one who is born, death alone is the ultimate certainty; recognize this and loosen fear-driven grief.
Duties in tension
- Attachment-driven grief for others vs. self-governance through discernment
- Worldly fear vs. acceptance of natural law (maraṇa-dharma)
- Ethical theme
- Śoka-nivṛtti / vairāgya
- How it resolves
- Philosophical reframing (anityatā-viveka)
For your practice
Daily contemplation on mortality (maraṇānusmṛti) to reduce clinging and cultivate equanimity.
Mood and themes
- Rasa
- Shanta (peace), with Karuna (compassion)
- Mood
- Sobering, detached, reflective
Themes
- Dharma
- Ethics
- Mortality
- Itihasa
Jīva’s embodied state is inherently perishable (deha-anityatva); fear resolves into discernment (viveka) when death is seen as inevitable for the born.
Kaṭha Upaniṣad themes: mṛtyu as the inescapable horizon for the embodied; the wise turn from grief to knowledge.
Bhagavad Gītā 2.27 (jātasya hi dhruvo mṛtyuḥ); Mahābhārata, Śānti/Anuśāsana sections on anityatā and śoka-nivṛtti
Vedic/Upaniṣadic mortality instruction traditions (śoka as avidyā’s effect)
Ayodhyākāṇḍa laments and consolations around Daśaratha’s death; recurring anityatā motifs in Araṇya/Yuddha-kāṇḍa counsel
Anuṣṭup (śloka)
Solemn
Mandra-gambhīra (low, steady)
FAQs
It teaches truthful acceptance of mortality (satya-bodha): recognizing death as inevitable helps one live dharmically without panic or delusion.
The speaker uses a natural metaphor (fruit and falling) to make the inevitability of death emotionally intelligible.
Sthairya (steadfastness): courage rooted in realism rather than denial.
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