Valmiki Ramayana 2.8.39: Ayodhya Kanda, Sarga 8, Shloka 39
मन्थराकैकेयीसंवादः · Mantharā’s Counsel to Kaikeyī
Ayodhyā’s Succession Alarm
Spoken by Manthara to KaikeyiSetting: Ayodhya
यदा हि रामः पृथिवीमवाप्स्यति ध्रुवं प्रणष्टो भरतो भविष्यति ।
अतो हि सञ्चिन्तय राज्यमात्मजे परस्य चैवाद्य विवासकारणम् ॥३९॥
yadā hi rāmaḥ pṛthivīm avāpsyati dhruvaṃ praṇaṣṭo bharato bhaviṣyati |
ato hi sañcintaya rājyam ātmaje parasya caivādya vivāsakāraṇam ||39||
Sebab ketika Rama memperoleh bumi ini, Bharata pasti akan binasa. Maka pikirkanlah sekarang juga: kerajaan bagi putramu, dan juga jalan untuk mengasingkan Rama, sang pesaing.
Sandhi Notes
- pṛthivīm + avāpsyati → pṛthivīmavāpsyati
- ca + eva + adya → caivādya
- rājyam + ātmaje → rājyamātmaje
- vivāsa + kāraṇam → vivāsakāraṇam
When Rama obtains this earth, Bharata will be certainly ruined. Therefore, right now think of the kingdom for your son and the means of banishment for your enemy, Rama.ityārṣē śrīmadrāmāyaṇē vālmīkīya ādikāvyē ayōdhyākāṇḍē aṣṭamassargaḥ৷৷Thus ends the eighth sarga of Ayodhyakanda of the holy Ramayana, the first epic composed by sage Valmiki.
The teaching
Ends do not sanctify means; rājya gained by adharma becomes the seed of ruin and remorse.
Duties in tension
- Maternal partiality vs impartial justice
- Queenly duty to protect the realm’s rightful succession
- Truthfulness and non-harm vs political plotting
- Ethical theme
- Rājadharma violation; adharma-nīti
- How it resolves
- Explicit turn toward adharma: advocating exile as instrument for power
For your practice
A cautionary verse for self-inquiry: notice how urgency (‘ādya’) can override conscience; practice pause (virāma) before action.
Mood and themes
- Rasa
- Raudra (fury), with Bhayanaka (fear)
- Mood
- Ruthless, scheming, immediate
Themes
- Dharma
- Satya (negatively contrasted)
- Ethics
- Adharma (plotting exile)
- Court Intrigue
- Itihasa
When desire dominates, buddhi becomes instrument of adharma; the ‘means’ (upāya) are purified only by dharma-alignment.
Warning against kāma leading to downfall resonates with Upaniṣadic moral psychology: desire → resolve → action → bondage.
- Kaikeyi and Bharata
- Mother urged to secure kingdom for son (urgent-possessive)
- Kaikeyi and Rama
- Queen plotting exile of prince (hostile)
- Bharata and Rama
- Succession displacement (advocated) (adversarial (projected))
- Manthara and Kaikeyi
- Strategist inciting immediate action (pressuring-manipulative)
- Dasharatha and Kaikeyi
- Husband-wife; queen leveraging boons (implied next steps) (calculating)
Valmiki Ramayana 2.8.39; Rāmacaritamānasa, Ayodhyākāṇḍa (Kaikeyī’s demand for exile and kingdom)
Arthaśāstra: immediate seizure of opportunity; exile as political tool
Ayodhyākāṇḍa: Kaikeyī’s two boons demanded from Daśaratha (2.10–2.12); Ayodhyākāṇḍa: Bharata’s rejection of the kingdom and devotion to Rama (2.70–2.99), which overturns Manthara’s premise
Vasantatilakā (as presented in many recensions for this kāṇḍa passage)
Commanding
Forceful, clipped endings; heightened emphasis on ‘ādya’ and ‘vivāsakāraṇam’
FAQs
It shows a direct breach of dharma and satya: plotting unjust exile for a righteous heir. The Ramayana uses such counsel to illustrate how adharma begins with calculated, self-serving plans.
Mantharā culminates her persuasion by urging Kaikeyī to secure the throne for Bharata immediately and to arrange Rāma’s banishment.
In negative relief, it emphasizes the virtue of righteous counsel (hitopadeśa aligned with dharma). Mantharā’s advice exemplifies its opposite: manipulative, fear-based policy.
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