Valmiki Ramayana 2.74.5: Ayodhya Kanda, Sarga 74, Shloka 5
भरतस्य कैकेयी-गर्हा तथा सुरभि-दृष्टान्तः
Bharata’s Reproach of Kaikeyi and the Surabhi Exemplum
Spoken by Bharata to KaikeyiSetting: Ayodhya palace (confrontation setting)Places named: Sarvaloka (all worlds/people)
यत्त्वया हीदृशं पापं कृतं घोरेण कर्मणा ।
सर्वलोकप्रियं हित्वा ममाप्यापादितं भयम् ॥५॥
yattvayā hīdṛśaṃ pāpaṃ kṛtaṃ ghoreṇa karmaṇā |
sarvalokapriyaṃ hitvā mamāpy āpāditaṃ bhayam ||5||
तू ने बहुत बड़ा पाप किया है। तू ने राम को छोड़ा, जो सबको प्यारा था। यह बहुत बुरी बात है। इससे मुझे भी डर लग रहा है।
Sandhi Notes
- yattvayā = yat + tvayā
- hīdṛśam = hi + īdṛśam
- sarvalokapriyam is a tatpuruṣa compound
- mamāpyāpāditam = mama + api + āpāditam
That by doing this horrible deed you have committed a great sin of renouncing Rama, the beloved of all worlds. Therefore I am overtaken by fear.
The teaching
Adharma committed for power endangers not only the doer but the whole moral order; fear is the shadow of sin.
Duties in tension
- Obedience/respect to mother vs duty to denounce adharma
- Dynastic loyalty vs truth-speaking (satya)
- Ethical theme
- Satya-dharma and political ethics
- How it resolves
- Truthful condemnation grounded in dharma
For your practice
Self-audit of actions: avoid ‘ghora karma’; cultivate abhaya through dharmic living.
Mood and themes
- Rasa
- Raudra (fury), with Bhayanaka (fear)
- Mood
- Accusatory, morally alarmed, fear-struck
Themes
- Dharma
- Satya
- Ethics
- Itihasa
- Karma
- Family duty
Fear arises from adharma and identification with action’s fruits; right action aligned with dharma restores inner fearlessness (abhaya).
Taittirīya’s ‘satyam vada, dharmam cara’ ethos—breach of dharma produces bhaya; dharma is the ground of security.
- Bharata and Kaikeyi
- Son condemning mother’s act (adversarial)
- Kaikeyi and Rama
- Queen’s coercion leading to exile (adversarial)
Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.74.6 (consequences: father dead, Rama in forest); Rāmacaritamānasa Ayodhyākāṇḍa: Bharata’s denunciation of Kaikeyi (parallel episode)
Vedic idea of pāpa and bhaya linkage (ṛta/dharma as protection)
Ayodhyākāṇḍa: Kaikeyi’s boons and Rama’s exile narrative (2.12–2.18)
Anuṣṭup (śloka)
Commanding
Sharp udātta-like lift on ‘pāpam’ and ‘ghoreṇa’; firm cadence on ‘bhayam’
FAQs
Dharma is violated when rightful duty and love toward the virtuous (Rāma, ‘beloved of all’) are abandoned for selfish ends; such adharma generates fear and moral consequence (karma).
Bharata, learning that Rāma has been sent away and the kingdom manipulated, confronts Kaikeyī and frames her act as a grievous sin with dangerous consequences.
Bharata’s moral clarity and loyalty to dharma: he judges actions by righteousness rather than by personal gain.
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