Ramayana — Bala Kanda, Sarga 20, Shloka 10
राज्ञः शङ्का
प्रत्याख्यानम् (Daśaratha’s Objections to Sending Rāma) — Bala Kanda, Sarga 20
षष्टिर्वर्षसहस्राणि जातस्य मम कौशिक।।।।दु:खेनोत्पादितश्चायं न रामं नेतुमर्हसि।
ṣaṣṭir varṣa-sahasrāṇi jātasya mama kauśika |
duḥkhenotpāditaś cāyaṃ na rāmaṃ netum arhasi ||1.20.10||
おおカウシカよ、我が生誕より六万年が過ぎた。そしてこのラーマは苦難の末にようやく授かった子。ゆえに、そなたが彼を連れ去るのは相応しくない。
O scion of of Kusika family, sixty thousand years have passed since I was born. Rama was born to me after a great deal of suffering. It is not proper to take him with you.
FAQs
Daśaratha frames dharma through parental stewardship: a child gained after hardship is a trust to be protected; yet this will later be weighed against truthfulness and duty toward a sage’s request.
Daśaratha begins his refusal, arguing from his age and the suffering through which he obtained Rāma, asking Viśvāmitra not to take him.
Protectiveness and deep attachment (vātsalya), showing Daśaratha’s human side even as a king.