Valmiki Ramayana 6.113.18: Yuddha Kanda, Sarga 113, Shloka 18
रावणवधदर्शनम् · Lament of the Rākṣasa Women upon Seeing Rāvaṇa Slain
Addressed to RavanaSetting: Laṅkā
अशृण्वतातुसुहृदांसततंहितवादिनाम् ।
मरणायहृतासीताराक्षसाश्चनिपातिताः ॥१८॥
एतास्सममिदानींतेवयमात्मा च पातितः ।
aśṛṇvatā tu suhṛdāṃ satataṃ hitavādinām |
maraṇāya hṛtā sītā rākṣasāś ca nipātitāḥ ||18||
etāḥ samam idānīṃ te vayam ātmā ca pātitaḥ |
तुमने अपने अच्छे दोस्तों की बात नहीं सुनी। जो तुम्हारे भले की बात करते थे, उनको इग्नोर कर दिया। सीता को उठा लाए, और अब मरने के लिए। तुम्हारे सारे राक्षस भी मर गए। अब तुम भी गिर गए, हम भी गिर गए, सब बर्बाद हो गया।
Sandhi Notes
- अशृण्वतातु → अशृण्वता + तु
- सुहृदांसततं → सुहृदाम् + सततम्
- सततंहितवादिनाम् → सततम् + हितवादिनाम्
- मरणायहृता → मरणाय + हृता
- सीताराक्षसाश्च → सीता + राक्षसाः + च
- एतास्समम् → एताः + समम्
- इदानींते → इदानीम् + ते
- वयमात्मा → वयम् + आत्मा
"You did not listen to the good advice of your dear and good at heart. You brought Sita and destroyed yourself and all of us at a time."
The teaching
A ruler who rejects beneficial counsel and commits adharma drags both self and dependents into destruction.
Duties in tension
- King’s desire/ego vs rājadharma (protecting subjects, heeding counsel)
- Personal passion vs respect for another’s spouse (paradāra-virati)
- Ethical theme
- Rājadharma / nīti / paradāra-doṣa
- How it resolves
- Consequence/karma-phala
For your practice
Practice of śravaṇa (listening) to satpuruṣa counsel; restraint of desire; reflection on leadership ethics.
Mood and themes
- Rasa
- Karuna (compassion), with Raudra (fury)
- Mood
- Accusatory, ruinous, lamenting
Themes
- Dharma
- Satya
- Itihasa
- Ethics
- Rajadharma
- Bad counsel
- Karma-phala
When buddhi (discernment) is eclipsed, the will chooses adharma; the resulting saṃskāra-chain drags both self and dependents into suffering.
Kaṭha Upaniṣad chariot allegory: when the intellect fails to rein in the senses, the traveler reaches ruin; here, refusal of 'hitavāda' mirrors loss of śreyas.
- Ravana and Sita
- Abductor vs abducted (condemnation)
- Ravana and Rakṣasas
- King/leader and his forces (shared downfall) (tragic solidarity)
Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 3.36-3.47 (Sītā-haraṇa as pivotal cause); Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 6.8-6.12 (Vibhīṣaṇa’s counsel and its rejection—contextual parallel); Rāmacaritamānasa Laṅkākāṇḍa (Rāvaṇa’s refusal of counsel leading to ruin—parallel theme)
Nīti-śāstra motif: ignoring good counsel destroys king and kingdom (general)
Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 6.113.19 (explicit mention of Vibhīṣaṇa’s good counsel)
Anuṣṭup
Solemn
Tīvra (sharper) on accusatory phrases, then heavy cadence
FAQs
Ignoring truthful, beneficial counsel (hitavacana) and violating another’s marital sanctity leads to collective ruin; adharma in leadership destroys both self and society.
The women explicitly connect Laṅkā’s devastation to Rāvaṇa’s refusal to heed well-wishers and his abduction of Sītā.
The virtue of listening to wise counsel—humility and receptivity to satya (truth)—is emphasized by its absence in Rāvaṇa.
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