Ramayana — Ayodhya Kanda, Sarga 33, Shloka 18
त्रयस्त्रिंशः सर्गः
Civic Lament and Rama’s Dutiful Approach to Daśaratha
समुद्धृतनिधानानि परिध्वस्ताजिराणि च।उपात्त धनधान्यानि हृतसाराणि सर्वशः।।।।रजसाभ्यवकीर्णानि परित्यक्तानि दैवतैः।मूषकैःपरिधावद्भिरुद्बिलैरावृतानि च।।।।अपेतोदकधूमानि हीनसम्मार्जनानि च।प्रणष्टबलिकर्मेज्यामन्त्रहोमजपानि च।।।।दुष्कालेनेव भग्नानि भिन्नभाजनवन्ति च।अस्मात्त्यक्तानि वेश्मानि कैकेयी प्रतिपद्यताम्।।।।
samuddhṛta-nidhānāni paridhvasta-ajirāṇi ca |
upātta-dhana-dhānyāni hṛta-sārāṇi sarvaśaḥ ||
rajasābhyavakīrṇāni parityaktāni daivataiḥ |
mūṣakaiḥ paridhāvadbhir udbilair āvṛtāni ca ||
apetodaka-dhūmāni hīna-sammārjanāni ca |
praṇaṣṭa-bali-karma-ijyā-mantra-homa-japāni ca ||
duṣkālena iva bhagnāni bhinna-bhājana-vanti ca |
asmāt tyaktāni veśmāni kaikeyī pratipadyatām ||
われらが捨て去る家々を、カイケーイーが受け取るがよい——中庭は荒れ果て、隠し財は掘り起こされ、財も穀も奪われ、ことごとく空しく剥ぎ取られた家々を。塵にまみれ、神々にも見放され、鼠が走り回り巣穴に覆われ、水もなく台所の煙も立たず、掃き清められず、供物も礼拝も真言も火供も誦念も沈黙したまま——飢饉に打ち砕かれ、割れた器が散らばる住まいのような家々を。そうした家々を、彼女のものとせよ。
Let Kaikeyi take possession of our deserted and dilapidated homes with ruined courtyards which seem as though struck by calamities. They are drained of wealth and foodgrains, covered with dust and abandoned by the gods. There is no water or smoke (from kitchen). They are infested with rats. They stand unswept. There foodgrains lie around ratholes, and broken earthenwares lie scattered. There are no offerings, no sacrifices, no recitation of sacred hymns, no libations and no invocations.
FAQs
Dharma is portrayed as the life-breath of society: when righteousness is exiled, prosperity, order, and ritual harmony symbolically collapse—even homes become spiritually “abandoned.”
The citizens, preparing to leave with Rāma, declare that Kaikeyī may keep their now-worthless houses, which will become desolate without them.
The citizens’ steadfast loyalty to dharma over property—renunciation of comfort as a moral protest against adharma.