Ramayana — Ayodhya Kanda, Sarga 35, Shloka 15
सुमन्त्रस्य कैकेयी-निन्दा
Sumantra’s Reproof of Kaikeyi in the Royal Assembly
महाब्रह्मर्षिसृष्टाः वा ज्वलन्तो भीमदर्शनाः।धिग्वाग्दण्डा न हिंसन्ति रामप्रव्राजने स्थिताम्।।2.35.15।।
mahābrahmarṣi-sṛṣṭā vā jvalanto bhīma-darśanāḥ | dhig-vāg-daṇḍā na hiṃsanti rāma-pravrājane sthitām ||2.35.15||
ಆಶ್ಚರ್ಯವೇನಂದರೆ, ರಾಮನ ಪ್ರವ್ರಾಜನದಲ್ಲಿ ನೀನು ದೃಢವಾಗಿ ನಿಂತಿದ್ದರೂ, ಮಹಾಬ್ರಹ್ಮರ್ಷಿಗಳಿಂದ ಸೃಷ್ಟಿಯಾದಂತೆ ಜ್ವಲಿಸುವ, ಭೀಮದರ್ಶನವಾದ ‘ಧಿಕ್!’ ಎಂಬ ವಾಗ್ದಂಡಗಳು ನಿನ್ನನ್ನು ಏಕೆ ದಂಡಿಸುವುದಿಲ್ಲ?
By axing a mango tree and growing a nimba in its place and sprinkling it with milk one does not get sweet fruit.
FAQs
Public and moral reproach functions as a dharmic check on wrongdoing: when one violates righteousness—here, unjust exile—one should feel the ‘burn’ of conscience and societal censure.
Sumantra condemns Kaikeyi’s determination to exile Rama and expresses disbelief that she remains unscathed by the moral force of condemnation.
Moral accountability: Sumantra embodies the duty to speak truth to power when adharma is being enacted.