Valmiki Ramayana 2.112.17: Ayodhya Kanda, Sarga 112, Shloka 17
पादुकाप्रदानम्
The Gift of the Sandals and Delegated Kingship
Spoken by Rama to BharataSetting: Chitrakuta (forest)Instruction on governance for Ayodhya’s administration
अमात्यैश्च सुहृद्भिश्च बुद्धिमद्भिश्च मन्त्रिभिः ।
सर्वकार्याणि सम्मन्त्र्य सुमहन्त्यपि कारय ॥१७॥
amātyaiś ca suhṛdbhiś ca buddhimadbhiś ca mantribhiḥ |
sarvakāryāṇi sammantrya sumahanty api kāraya ||17||
मंत्रियों और दोस्तों से बात करो, जो समझदार हैं उनसे पूछो। हर काम पहले सोच-विचार कर के फिर करो, बड़े मुश्किल काम भी हो जायेंगे।
Sandhi Notes
- amātyaiś ca: अमात्यैः + च
- suhṛdbhiś ca: सुहृद्भिः + च
- buddhimadbhiś ca: बुद्धिमद्भिः + च
- sumahanty api: सुमहन्ति + अपि
After due consultation with ministers, friends, counsellors and prudent persons, accomplish all tasks, however formidable they may appear.
The teaching
Even great tasks become achievable when undertaken after consultation with wise ministers and trusted allies—prudence is a kingly virtue.
- Ethical theme
- Nīti / rājadharma (procedural ethics)
For your practice
Sādhana of humility in decision-making: seeking counsel, reducing impulsivity, aligning actions with collective wisdom and dharma.
Mood and themes
- Rasa
- Shanta (peace), with Vira (heroism)
- Mood
- Prudent, methodical, stabilizing
Themes
- Dharma
- Maryada
- Itihasa
- Ethics
- Rajadharma
- Good governance
Action guided by sattvic buddhi—consultation reduces ahaṅkāra-driven decisions; governance as yajña-like coordinated action.
Bṛhadāraṇyaka’s esteem for ‘mantra’/right counsel as sustaining order is thematically adjacent, though not directly cited.
- Bharata and Ministers
- King and council consultation (pragmatic, trust)
- Bharata and Friends
- Support network for governance (cooperative)
- Rama and Bharata
- Elder brother giving statecraft instruction (guiding)
Mahābhārata Śānti Parva (council, ministers, deliberation in kingship); Arthaśāstra (later systematic parallel: mantripariṣad, consultation before action)
Vedic ‘mantra’ as counsel/strategic deliberation (semantic continuity)
Ayodhyākāṇḍa: Bharata’s later rule as regent with Rama’s pādukā (2.113 onward thematic continuation)
Anuṣṭup (śloka)
Narrative
Even-paced madhyama with clear articulation of compound lists
FAQs
Rājadharma requires deliberation and counsel; ethical power is exercised through collective wisdom rather than solitary will.
Rāma instructs Bharata on how to administer affairs effectively—through consultation with capable advisors.
Prudence and humility in governance: the ruler listens, deliberates, and then acts decisively.
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