Valmiki Ramayana 2.61.18: Ayodhya Kanda, Sarga 61, Shloka 18
कौसल्याविलापः · Kausalya’s Lament and Ethical Analogies on Kingship
Spoken by Lakshmana to DasharathaSetting: CitrakūṭaPlaces named: AyodhyāBharata’s negotiation with Rāma
तथा ह्यात्तमिदं राज्यं हृतसारां सुरामिव ।
नाभिमन्तुमलं रामो नष्टसोममिवाध्वरम् ॥१८॥
tathā hy āttam idaṃ rājyaṃ hṛtasārāṃ surām iva |
nābhimantum alaṃ rāmo naṣṭasomam ivādhvaram ||18||
इसलिए यह राज्य राम के काम का नहीं। दूसरे लोग इसके मज़े ले चुके हैं। जैसे शराब की बोतल, जिसका पूरा पैसा निकाल लिया हो, अब क्या रह गया? खाली बोतल। वैसे ही यह राज्य खाली हो गया है। राम ऐसे खाली चीज़ नहीं मानते। जैसे यज्ञ में सोम रस खत्म हो गया हो, तो वो यज्ञ अधूरा रह गया।
Sandhi Notes
- ह्यात्तम् = हि + आत्तम्
- आत्तमिदम् = आत्तम् + इदम्
- सुरामिव = सुराम् + इव
- नाभिमन्तुमलम् = न + अभिमन्तुम् + अलम्
- नष्टसोममिवाध्वरम् = नष्टसोमम् + इव + अध्वरम्
In the same way Rama will not accept this kingdom enjoyed by others like liquour or soma juice drained of its essence.
The teaching
When the essence (dharma) is removed, the form (power/ritual) becomes hollow and should not be embraced.
Duties in tension
- Restore political order quickly
- Preserve dharmic legitimacy and personal integrity
- Ethical theme
- Rājadharma grounded in śāstra-viveka
- How it resolves
- Refusal based on 'fitness' (adhikāra) and essence (sāra)
For your practice
Supports viveka-vairāgya: do not accept roles/objects whose inner 'soma'—truth and purity—is missing.
Mood and themes
- Rasa
- Shanta (peace), with Karuna (compassion)
- Mood
- Disenchanted, somber, discriminating
Themes
- Dharma
- Satya
- Legitimacy
- Ethics
- Ritual Analogy
- Kingship
Kingship without dharmic 'sāra' is asāra—mirrors Vedāntic viveka: reject what lacks enduring essence.
Soma as symbolic bliss/essence; loss of soma evokes loss of inner rasa—akin to the Upaniṣadic search for sāra (ātman) over asāra.
- Rama and Bharata
- Bharata articulates Rāma’s principled refusal via metaphors (grave)
- Rama and Yajna
- Analogy: sacrifice without soma is invalid like kingship without dharmic essence (reverent)
Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.61.18 (yātayāma offerings); Mahābhārata Śānti/Anuśāsana themes: kingship requires dharma as essence (general parallel)
Śrauta soma-yāga centrality; soma as indispensable essence of certain sacrifices
Bālakāṇḍa putrakāmeṣṭi (sacrificial frame in the epic); Ayodhyākāṇḍa legitimacy discourse around boons and exile
Anuṣṭup (śloka)
Solemn
Lower register with a pause on 'hṛtasārām' and 'naṣṭasomam'
FAQs
Dharma holds that authority without rightful essence—justice, consent, and proper transfer—becomes hollow and unacceptable to the righteous.
Continuing the ritual analogy, the speaker insists Rāma will not accept a sovereignty whose moral ‘essence’ has been drained by prior wrongful enjoyment.
Rāma’s refusal of compromised gain: he values righteousness over advantage.
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