Valmiki Ramayana 6.49.1-2: Yuddha Kanda, Sarga 49, Shlokas 1-2
शरबन्धनविलापः
The Lament under the Net of Arrows
Setting: Laṅkā battlefield (Yuddha-bhūmi)Places named: Laṅkā (implied by Yuddhakāṇḍa context)
घोरेणशरबन्धेनबद्धौदशरथात्मजौ ।
निःश्वसन्तौयथानागौशयानौरुधिरोक्षितौ ॥१॥
सर्वेतेवानरश्रेष्ठास्ससुग्रीवामहाबलाः ।
परिवार्यमहात्मानौतस्थुश्शोकपरिप्लुताः ॥२॥
ghoreṇa śarabandhena baddhau daśarathātmajau |
niḥśvasantau yathā nāgau śayānau rudhirokṣitau ||1||
sarve te vānaraśreṣṭhāḥ sa-sugrīvā mahābalāḥ |
parivārya mahātmānau tasthuḥ śokapariplutāḥ ||2||
राम और लक्ष्मण ज़मीन पर पड़े थे। तीरों की जाल में बंधे हुए थे। दोनों खून से लतके हुए थे और साँस ले रहे थे जैसे बड़े साँप। सुग्रीव और उसके सारे साथी उनके पास खड़े थे। सब बहुत दुखी थे।
Sandhi Notes
- घोरेणशरबन्धेन → घोरेण + शरबन्धेन
- बद्धौदशरथात्मजौ → बद्धौ + दशरथात्मजौ
- निःश्वसन्तौयथा → निःश्वसन्तौ + यथा
- नागौशयानौ → नागौ + शयानौ
- शयानौरुधिरोक्षितौ → शयानौ + रुधिरोक्षितौ
Sugriva, the very powerful one and all the best of Vanaras stood immersed in sorrow surrounding the great sons of Dasaratha, who were lying on the ground bound by a network of arrows like serpents, sighing, bodies covered with blood.
The teaching
Even the righteous hero may be temporarily bound; dharma requires perseverance and wise counsel in crisis, not collapse into despair.
Duties in tension
- War duty (kṣatriya-dharma) to fight vs immediate need to preserve life and regroup
- Leader’s duty to inspire troops vs visible vulnerability and collective despair
- Ethical theme
- Kṣatriya-dharma under adversity; leadership in calamity
- How it resolves
- Strategic intervention (seeking remedy/aid)
For your practice
Cultivates śaraṇāgati and trust: the Lord’s līlā includes apparent defeat; encourages steadiness when dharma seems overpowered.
Mood and themes
- Rasa
- Karuna (compassion), with Bhayanaka (fear)
- Mood
- Shattered, urgent, mourning
Themes
- Itihasa
- Dharma
- Ethics
- Compassion
- Grief
- Brotherhood
- War
The binding net as avidyā’s pāśa; even the mighty appear bound at the level of body-mind, while the inner Self remains untouched (dr̥g-dr̥śya distinction).
Muṇḍaka’s imagery of being caught in the net (jāla) of ignorance (conceptual echo), and the call to transcend fear and grief through knowledge.
- Rama and Lakshmana
- Brothers-in-arms (shared suffering) (solidary)
- Rama and Sugriva
- Allies (king and helper in war) (grieving-loyal)
- Lakshmana and Sugriva
- Allies (shared cause) (grieving-loyal)
- Rama and Vanara leaders
- Commander-supported by troops (devoted-grief)
- Lakshmana and Vanara leaders
- Respected prince supported by troops (devoted-grief)
- Rama and Indrajit
- War-opponents; victim of nāga-pāśa (implied) (hostile)
- Lakshmana and Indrajit
- War-opponents; victim of nāga-pāśa (implied) (hostile)
Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Yuddhakāṇḍa: Nāga-pāśa episode (Indrajit’s binding of Rāma-Lakṣmaṇa); Mahābhārata: Bhīṣma lying on the bed of arrows (śara-śayyā) as a parallel of heroic immobilization; Rāmcaritmānas, Laṅkākāṇḍa: Indrajit’s serpent-arrows binding Rāma-Lakṣmaṇa (parallel narrative)
Vedic serpent/paśa motifs (Varuṇa-pāśa imagery as conceptual cousin)
Earlier alliance scenes: Sugrīva’s vow to aid Rāma (Kiṣkindhākāṇḍa) now tested in grief
Anuṣṭup (śloka)
Grieving
Heavy mandra on 'ghoreṇa', sharp udatta-like lift on 'nāgau' then fall on 'rudhirokṣitau'
FAQs
Dharma here is reflected in loyal solidarity during calamity: the Vānara allies do not abandon Rāma and Lakṣmaṇa when they fall, but stand by them in shared suffering—an ethic of steadfast support to the righteous.
In the battle, Rāma and Lakṣmaṇa have been struck and immobilized by an enemy’s arrow-net; they lie wounded while Sugrīva and the Vānara chiefs gather around them in grief.
Allyship and fidelity (sakhya-niṣṭhā): Sugrīva and the Vānaras demonstrate steadfast devotion and concern for their leader and his brother.
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