Ramayana — Ayodhya Kanda, Sarga 8, Shloka 34
मन्थराकैकेयीसंवादः — Mantharā’s Counsel to Kaikeyī
Ayodhyā’s Succession Alarm
एवं ते ज्ञातिपक्षस्य श्रेयश्चैव भविष्यति।यदि चेद्भरतो धर्मात्पित्र्यं राज्यमवाप्स्यसि।।2.8.34।।
evaṃ te jñātipakṣasya śreyaś caiva bhaviṣyati |
yadi ced bharato dharmāt pitryaṃ rājyam avāpsyasi ||2.8.34||
Dengan demikian, kesejahteraan akan datang bagimu dan bagi seluruh kaum kerabatmu—apabila Bharata, menurut dharma, memperoleh kerajaan warisan leluhur.
If Bharata secures the ancestral kingdom righteously, it will bring welfare to you and to your relations also.
FAQs
It invokes dharma as the legitimizing basis of kingship (“righteously obtaining the ancestral kingdom”), while also showing how the language of dharma can be used rhetorically to justify partisan advantage.
Mantharā concludes her line of persuasion by promising prosperity to Kaikeyī’s kin if Bharata gains the throne ‘by dharma,’ even as her broader counsel aims to displace Rāma through coercive boons.
The virtue named is dharmic legitimacy in rule; the verse invites students to distinguish genuine dharma from politically convenient claims.