Valmiki Ramayana 2.75.37: Ayodhya Kanda, Sarga 75, Shloka 37
अयोध्याकाण्डे पञ्चसप्ततितमः सर्गः
Sarga 75: Bharata and Kausalya · Reproach, Oaths, and Reconciliation
Spoken by Bharata to KausalyaSetting: Ayodhya (implied)
राजस्त्रीबालवृद्धानां वधे यत्पापमुच्यते ।
भृत्यत्यागे च यत्पापं तत्पापं प्रतिपद्यताम् ॥३७॥
rājastrībālavṛddhānāṃ vadhe yat pāpam ucyate |
bhṛtyatyāge ca yat pāpaṃ tat pāpaṃ pratipadyatām ||37||
जिस आदमी ने हाँ करी थी, उसकी वजह से मेरा बड़ा भाई गया। उसपर वह पाप लगे जो राजा, औरत, बच्चे, और बूढ़े को माने में आता है। और जो पाप अपने लोगों को छोड़ने में आता है, वह भी उसपर लगे।
Sandhi Notes
- यत्पापमुच्यते = यत् + पापम् + उच्यते
- भृत्यत्यागे = भृत्य + त्यागे
- यत्पापं = यत् + पापम्
- तत्पापं = तत् + पापम्
May the one who counselled the exile of my esteemed brother acquire the same sin as one acquires for murdering a king, a woman, children and the aged and deserting dependents!
The teaching
Harming the righteous through power-politics is equated with the gravest violences; abandonment of dependents is a serious breach of dharma.
Duties in tension
- Rāja-dharma to protect subjects and dependents vs personal desire/palace intrigue leading to exile
- Non-violence/protection of vulnerable vs political maneuvering that harms the righteous
- Ethical theme
- Mahāpātaka / social-protection ethics
- How it resolves
- Invocation of śāstric pāpa categories as moral verdict
For your practice
Supports dharma-smṛti reflection: protect the vulnerable; do not abandon those who rely on you.
Mood and themes
- Rasa
- Raudra (fury), with Bhayanaka (fear)
- Mood
- Ferocious, judicial, dire
Themes
- Dharma
- Satya
- Ethics
- Scriptural sin (pāpa)
- Protection of the vulnerable
Violation of dharma toward the vulnerable accrues heavy saṃskāra; the ‘mahāpātaka’ imagery parallels bondage through grave adharma.
General echo of dharma as the foundation of the world-order (ṛta/dharma), though framed via smṛti-style pāpa taxonomy.
- Bharata and Rama
- Brotherly allegiance expressed via curse (protective outrage)
Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.75.35-36, 2.75.38-39
Dharmaśāstra lists of mahāpātakas (e.g., brahmahatyā, surāpāna, etc.) and grave sins like rāja-hatyā; protected categories (strī, bāla, vṛddha) in ethical injunctions
Ayodhyākāṇḍa: theme of ‘tyāga’ (abandonment) and protection of dependents in royal duty
Anuṣṭup (śloka)
Solemn-judicial, thunderous
High emphasis with strong caesura after "ucyate"; heavy nyāsa on "pratipadyatām"
FAQs
Dharma prioritizes protection of the vulnerable and fidelity to duty; harming the righteous and abandoning dependents is equated with the gravest social sins.
Bharata invokes recognized scriptural categories of sin to measure the moral weight of causing Rāma’s exile.
Bharata’s dharmic discernment: he evaluates actions by their impact on social order and the helpless.
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