रावणस्य अन्त्येष्टिः
Ravana’s Funeral Rites and the Ethics of Post-War Conduct
कस्मात्त्वंमांविहायेहकृपणांगन्तुमिच्छसि ।।।।दीनांविलपतींमन्दांकिंवामांनाभिभाषसे ।
kasmāt tvaṃ māṃ vihāyeha kṛpaṇāṃ gantum icchasi | dīnāṃ vilapatīṃ mandāṃ kiṃ vā māṃ nābhibhāṣase ||
Mengapa engkau hendak pergi dengan meninggalkanku di sini—aku yang papa, tak berdaya, menangis dan remuk? Mengapa engkau bahkan tidak berkata sepatah kata pun kepadaku?
"Winning the three worlds by your valour, you are glorious, irresistible and beyond reach. How did the wanderer in the forest strike you?"
The verse points to the fragility of worldly bonds and the duty of a ruler to protect dependents—duty that collapses when one chooses adharma and meets destruction.
Mandodarī addresses the silent body of Rāvaṇa, experiencing his death as abandonment and unanswered speech.
Emotional truthfulness: she voices raw grief without ornament, revealing the human consequence of war and wrongdoing.