Valmiki Ramayana 2.31.13: Ayodhya Kanda, Sarga 31, Shloka 13
लक्ष्मणस्य वनानुगमन-प्रतिज्ञा तथा आयुध-संग्रहः
Lakshmana’s Vow to Follow Rama and the Retrieval of Divine Weapons
Spoken by Rama to LakṣmaṇaSetting: AyodhyāPlaces named: Aśvapati (Kekaya) (implied by patronymic)
सा हि राज्यमिदं प्राप्य नृपस्याश्वपते स्सुता ।
दुःखितानां सपत्नीनां न करिष्यति शोभनम् ॥१३॥
sā hi rājyam idaṃ prāpya nṛpasyāśvapateḥ sutā |
duḥkhitānāṃ sapatnīnāṃ na kariṣyati śobhanam ||13||
जब अश्वपति की बेटी यह राज्य पा लेगी, वो दुखी सौतेलों के लिए कुछ अच्छा नहीं करेगी।
Sandhi Notes
- nṛpasyāśvapateḥ = nṛpasya + aśvapateḥ
- aśvapate ssutā = aśvapateḥ + sutā (visarga sandhi, often written with doubled s)
Once the daughter of king Aswapati (Kaikeyi) gains control over the kingdom, she will do nothing to help her afflicted co-wives (Kausalya and Sumitra).
The teaching
Power gained through jealousy and coercion corrodes household and kingdom; dharma requires benevolence toward the vulnerable.
Duties in tension
- Queen’s duty to uphold harmony among co-wives and protect the royal household
- Political ambition for rājya and son’s succession
- Duty of compassion toward the afflicted
- Ethical theme
- Strī-dharma/antahpura-dharma and rāja-nīti (court ethics)
- How it resolves
- Prophetic warning/ethical censure
For your practice
A cautionary contemplation on envy and ambition; supports cultivation of maitrī and karuṇā in domestic life.
Mood and themes
- Rasa
- Karuna (compassion), with Raudra (fury)
- Mood
- Bitter, foreboding, indignant
Themes
- Dharma
- Ethics
- Royal Household
- Justice
- Compassion
Attachment to power (rājya) as a form of upādhi-driven delusion; suffering proliferates when egoic possession dominates.
The ‘not-good’ (aśobhanam) outcome of desire-driven action—karma bearing bitter fruit.
- Kaikeyi and Dasharatha
- Wife influencing king; queen-consort (adversarial (implied harm))
- Kausalya and Sumitra
- Co-wives united in affliction (implied solidarity) (shared-sorrow)
- Kaikeyi and Kingdom of Ayodhya
- Aspiring controller of state through succession (dominating)
Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa Ayodhyākāṇḍa: Kaikeyī’s boons and the suffering of Kausalyā (broad internal parallel across 2.20–2.40)
Purāṇic and itihāsa motifs of co-wife rivalry affecting succession (general narrative archetype)
Kausalyā’s lamentations later in Ayodhyākāṇḍa (thematic continuation)
Anuṣṭup (śloka)
Accusatory-narrative
Tighter rhythm, slightly higher emphasis on condemnatory phrases
FAQs
Dharma demands protection of the vulnerable within the household; power should bring welfare, not neglect—especially toward those already suffering.
Rāma anticipates the consequences of Kaikeyī’s ascendancy and worries about the fate of the other queens.
Rāma’s foresight and concern for fairness—he evaluates political change by its impact on the distressed.
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