Valmiki Ramayana 2.12.81: Ayodhya Kanda, Sarga 12, Shloka 81
द्वादशः सर्गः · Kaikeyi’s Boons and Dasaratha’s Moral Collapse
Ayodhya Kanda 12
Spoken by Dasharatha to KaikeyiSetting: Ayodhyā (royal palace)
रममाणस्त्वया सार्धं मृत्युं त्वां नाभिलक्षये ।
बालो रहसि हस्तेन कृष्णसर्पमिवास्पृशम् ॥८१॥
ramamāṇas tvayā sārdhaṁ mṛtyuṁ tvāṁ nābhilakṣaye |
bālo rahasi hastena kṛṣṇasarpam ivāspṛśam ||81||
मैं तुम्हारे साथ ख़ुश रहता था, लेकिन मुझे पता नहीं था कि तुम मौत हो। जैसे कोई छोटा बच्चा अकेला में काला साँप को हाथ से छू लेता है, उसे पता ही नहीं होता।
Sandhi Notes
- रममाणस्त्वया→रममाणः त्वया
- नाभिलक्षये→न अभिलक्षये
- कृष्णसर्पमिवास्पृशम्→कृष्णसर्पम् इव अस्पृशम्
While sporting with you, I did not realize you were death incarnate. Like a child handling a black cobra I caressed you.
The teaching
Pleasure without discernment breeds pramāda; hidden danger is recognized only when consequences ripen.
Duties in tension
- Kāma-driven indulgence vs vigilant rāja-dharma and household discernment
- Trust in spouse vs safeguarding dharma and heirs
- Ethical theme
- Pramāda (heedlessness) and kāma as ethical downfall
For your practice
Meditative caution: observe how desire can mask danger; cultivate mindfulness (apramāda) as protective sādhanā.
Mood and themes
- Rasa
- Bhayanaka (fear), with Karuna (compassion)
- Mood
- Dread, shocked, self-reproaching
Themes
- Dharma
- Satya
- Ethics
- Blind attachment
- Danger of desire
- Kama
Sense-delight without viveka is like touching a serpentthe object appears harmless until its true nature (duǚ) manifests.
Pramāda as 'mtyu' (death) motif; heedlessness leads to downfall, while knowledge is the path beyond fear.
- Dasharatha and Kaikeyi
- Husband wife; delight turned dread (horrified reproach). Perceived as death (mtyu-rūpa) to him (threatening (imputed))
Mahābhārata: serpent-as-danger similes for hidden peril (various nīti passages); Rāmacaritamānasa, Ayodhyākāƴ7ǚ: imagery of moha and impending mtyu around Daśaratha
Vedic serpent symbolism as latent danger; pramāda condemned in nīti traditions
2.12.80 (noose metaphor); 2.12.82-83 (self-condemnation and public blame)
Anuubh
Solemn
Quickened cadence on the simile pāda, ending in a grave nyāsa
FAQs
It cautions that unchecked pleasure and attachment can obscure truth (satya) and lead to ruin; dharma requires awareness and restraint.
Daśaratha compares his indulgent relationship with Kaikeyī to a child’s dangerous ignorance, realizing too late the harm it brings.
Self-control (dama) and vigilance (apramāda) are implied as necessary virtues for a ruler and householder.
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