Valmiki Ramayana 1.61.13: Bala Kanda, Sarga 61, Shloka 13
शुनःशेफविक्रयः · The Sale of Śunaḥśepa for the Sacrifice
Setting: Bhṛgutuṇḍa (Ṛcīka’s āśrama)Negotiation after arrival
गवां शतसहस्रेण विक्रीणीषे सुतं यदि ॥१३॥
पशोरर्थे महाभाग कृतकृत्योऽस्मि भार्गव ।
gavāṃ śatasahasreṇa vikrīṇīṣe sutaṃ yadi ||13||
paśor arthe mahābhāga kṛtakṛtyo 'smi bhārgava |
रिशि रिचीका, अगर तुम अपने एक बेटा को एक लाख गाय के बदले में बेच दो, जो यज्ञ के काम आए, तो मेरा काम हो जाएगा। भगवान तुम्हे इसका फल दे।
Sandhi Notes
- दातुमर्हसि = दातुम् + अर्हसि
- deśāḥ parisṛtāḥ is passive/PPP agreement (agent ‘mayā’ understood)
"O Fortunate descendent of the Bhrigu race! if your son is sold as a sacrificial animal in exchange for a hundred thousand cows, my purpose will be answered.
The teaching
Ritual ends do not automatically sanctify any means; when desire for completion (‘kṛtakṛtya’) overrides compassion, dharma becomes distorted.
Duties in tension
- King’s perceived ritual necessity (paśu for yajña) vs ahiṃsā/compassion toward a human life
- Sage’s hospitality/engagement with petitioner vs paternal duty to protect offspring and uphold dharma
- Ethical theme
- Dharma-saṅkaṭa (means–ends conflict; yajña-nīti vs ahiṃsā)
- How it resolves
- Unresolved in this verse (sets up ensuing ethical/narrative consequences)
For your practice
Serves as a cautionary contemplation for sādhakas: examine motives, avoid instrumentalizing beings, and prioritize compassion alongside ritual correctness.
Mood and themes
- Rasa
- Bibhatsa (disgust), with Bhayanaka (fear)
- Mood
- Morally jarring, pressing, grim
Themes
- Dharma
- Itihasa
- Sacrifice
- Ethics
- Satya
Attachment to ‘kṛtakṛtyatā’ (I will be fulfilled) through external acquisition contrasts with inner fulfillment (ātma-santoṣa); the verse dramatizes avidyā-driven ends overriding ahiṃsā.
Implicit tension with Upaniṣadic valuation of the person (puruṣa) over possessions (paśu, go); critique-by-narrative of mistaking the instrumental for the essential.
- the King and Richika
- Petitioner bargaining with a sage for ritual requirement (transactional-reverential). Sage confronted by royal demand/offer (tense (implied))
Aitareya Brāhmaṇa / Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa (narratives around human substitution and sacrificial ethics; thematic parallels); Mahābhārata (stories of yajña-related moral dilemmas and bargaining with sages); Purāṇic Bhṛgu-vaṃśa narratives (Ṛcīka/Jamadagni lineage contexts)
Vedic sacrificial economy (cattle as dakṣiṇā/wealth) and the concept of paśu in yajña
Rāmāyaṇa’s recurring critique of adharma through desire-driven speech acts (later mirrored in other coercive demands)
Anuṣṭup (śloka)
Commanding
Sharper, higher stress on ‘vikrīṇīṣe sutaṃ’ and ‘paśor arthe’ to convey ethical shock
FAQs
It raises a dharmic tension: the king seeks to complete a sacrifice (a duty) but proposes a transaction involving a human life, prompting reflection on limits of ritual means.
Ambarīṣa, unable to find a sacrificial animal, asks Ṛcīka to sell a son in exchange for cows for use in the rite.
Ambarīṣa’s determination to complete the sacrifice—though the verse also foreshadows the need for discernment (viveka) about righteous methods.
Ask anything about this verse
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