Valmiki Ramayana 2.42.7: Ayodhya Kanda, Sarga 42, Shloka 7
द्विचत्वारिंशः सर्गः · दशरथस्य शोक-विलापः तथा कौशल्यागृह-प्रवेशः
Dasaratha’s Lament and Return to Kausalya’s Apartments
Spoken by Dasharatha to KaikeyiSetting: Ayodhyā palace (inner apartments)Places named: Ayodhyā
ये च त्वामनुजीवन्ति नाहं तेषां न ते मम ।
केवलार्थपरां हि त्वां त्यक्तधर्मां त्यजाम्यहम् ॥७॥
ye ca tvām anujīvanti nāhaṃ teṣāṃ na te mama |
kevalārthaparāṃ hi tvāṃ tyaktadharmāṃ tyajāmy aham ||7||
जो लोग तुम्हारे पीछे लग के चलते हैं, वो मेरे नहीं हैं। मैं भी उनका नहीं हूँ। तुम तो बस अपना फायदा देखती हो। तुमने धरम छोड़ दिया है। इसलिए मैं तुम्हे छोड़ देता हूँ।
Sandhi Notes
- tvām+anujīvanti→tvāmanujīvanti
- na+aham→nāham
- kevalārthaparām (kevala-artha-parām)
- tyaktadharmām (tyakta-dharmām)
- tyajāmi+aham→tyajāmyaham
Your dependents have nothing to do with me nor I with them. I denounce you since you are a self-seeker without any sense off righteousness.
The teaching
When dharma is abandoned for selfish gain, bonds sustained only by dependence become unworthy of allegiance.
Duties in tension
- Husbandly duty to maintain marital harmony vs. kingly duty to uphold dharma
- Attachment/affection vs. moral repudiation of adharma
- Political prudence vs. ethical condemnation
- Ethical theme
- Rājadharma and gṛhastha-dharma under strain
- How it resolves
- Severance/renunciation (tyāga) as protest
For your practice
Practice of viveka (discernment) and avoidance of adharmic association; reflection on motives (artha-only pursuit) as a spiritual warning.
Mood and themes
- Rasa
- Raudra (fury), with Karuna (compassion)
- Mood
- Repudiation, moral outrage, bitter resolve
Themes
- Dharma
- Ethics
- Renunciation
- Condemnation of selfishness
Vairāgya toward adharmic saƴ5ga; rejection of asat-saƴ5ga as a prerequisite for inner steadiness.
Kaṭha-like discernment between śreyas and preyas (choosing dharma over mere gain).
- Dasharatha and Kaikeyi
- Husbandwife (queen-consort); rupture/repudiation (adversarial)
Mahābhārata: Vidura-nīti passages on abandoning adharmic allies; Rāmacaritamānasa: Ayodhyākāṇḍa laments on Kaikeyī's adharma and the king's collapse
Vedic ethical polarity of ṛta/dharma vs. anṛta
Ayodhyākāṇḍa: Daśaratha's denunciations of Kaikeyī surrounding the two boons episode
Anuṣṭubh
Commanding
Udātta-pradhāna with sharp niṣāda on tyajāmi/tyaktadharmām
FAQs
Dharma is presented as the basis of legitimate social bonds. When one is ‘tyakta-dharma’ (one who has abandoned righteousness) and driven by ‘kevala-artha’ (mere self-interest), relationships and loyalties become ethically void.
Daśaratha escalates his repudiation: he rejects not only Kaikeyī but also the circle sustained by her influence, declaring severance due to her perceived adharma.
Commitment to dharma as a non-negotiable standard—though expressed through a harsh, grief-charged verdict.
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