Valmiki Ramayana 2.59.23: Ayodhya Kanda, Sarga 59, Shloka 23
एकोनषष्ठितमः सर्गः (Sarga 59): सुमन्त्रवाक्यं, अयोध्याविषादः, दाशरथिशोकसागरः
Spoken by King Daśaratha to SumantraSetting: Ayodhya (palace)
न सुहृद्भिर्नचामात्यैर्मन्त्रयित्वा न नैगमैः ।
मयायमर्थस्सम्मोहात् स्त्रीहेतो स्सहसा कृतः ॥२३॥
na suhṛdbhiḥ na ca amātyaiḥ mantrayitvā na naigamaiḥ |
mayā ayam arthaḥ sammohāt strī-hetoḥ sahasā kṛtaḥ ||23||
ना दोस्तों से पूछा, ना मंत्रियों से। ना शहर के समझदार लोगों से। मैं पागल हो गया था। औरत के लिए ऐसे ही, बिना सोचे, यह फैसला कर लिया।
Sandhi Notes
- सुहृद्भिर्नचामात्यैः = सुहृद्भिः + न + च + अमात्यैः
- मयायम् = मया + अयम्
- अर्थस्सम्मोहात् = अर्थः + सम्मोहात्
- स्त्रीहेतो स्सहसा = स्त्रीहेतोः + सहसा (विसर्ग-सन्धि)।
For the sake of a woman, this act was committed in great haste, without consulting friends or ministers or men of prudence.
The teaching
Private desire must not override public duty; haste without counsel is a breach of rājadharma.
Duties in tension
- Personal attachment/pleasing a spouse
- Rājadharma requiring consultation and public-minded deliberation
- Duty to protect heir and kingdom
- Ethical theme
- Rājadharma / prudence vs passion
- How it resolves
- Confession and moral diagnosis (moha, sahasā)
For your practice
Supports daily self-audit (svādhyāya) before action: consult wise counsel, reduce moha; cultivates humility and restraint.
Mood and themes
- Rasa
- Karuna (compassion), with Bibhatsa (disgust)
- Mood
- Rash, deluded, penitent
Themes
- Dharma
- Satya
- Ethics
- Rajadharma
- Repentance
Sammohā is avidyā’s effect; acting from it binds one to duḥkha—repentance is the first movement toward viveka.
Īśa’s call to live by right action (kurvann eveha karmāṇi) is inverted here: action done without wisdom becomes bondage (thematic).
- Dasharatha and Friends
- King and well-wishers whose counsel was bypassed (regretful neglect)
- Dasharatha and Ministers
- Ruler-cabinet; failure of consultation (remorseful)
- Dasharatha and Citizens
- King and prudent townsmen/elders; social contract breached (guilty)
- Dasharatha and Kaikeyi
- Husband swayed ‘for a woman’s sake’ (bitter regret)
- Dasharatha and Rama
- Father whose rash act harms son (implied) (self-condemning love)
Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.12 (Daśaratha’s helplessness under boons); Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.42-2.44 (public grief showing consequence of private decision); Mahābhārata Śānti Parvan (nīti: king should consult ministers and citizens—topos); Rāmacaritamānasa Ayodhyākāṇḍa (Daśaratha’s remorse motifs)
Nītiśāstra tradition: triad of counsel—friends, ministers, and public elders
2.59.22 (neglect of mantrakuśala elders)
Anuṣṭup (śloka)
Solemn
Measured, didactic cadence; emphasis on ‘na … na … na’ anaphora
FAQs
A king must not let personal attachment override dharma; decisions affecting the kingdom should be made through truthful deliberation with wise stakeholders, not through delusion and haste.
Daśaratha confesses that Rama’s exile resulted from his rash, deluded action taken without counsel.
The virtue emphasized by negation is self-control and discernment; Daśaratha’s admission underscores the need for restraint against impulsive, desire-driven choices.
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