Ramayana — Yuddha Kanda, Sarga 1, Shloka 9
प्रथमः सर्गः
Rama Praises Hanuman; Anxiety over Crossing the Ocean
नियुक्तो नृपतेः कार्यं न कुर्याद्यस्समाहितः ।भृत्यो युक्तस्समर्थश्च तमाहुः पुरुषाधमम् ।।।।
niyukto nṛpateḥ kāryaṃ na kuryād yaḥ samāhitaḥ | bhṛtyo yuktaḥ samarthaś ca tam āhuḥ puruṣādhamam ||
ರಾಜನ ಕಾರ್ಯಕ್ಕೆ ನಿಯುಕ್ತನಾಗಿ, ಯುಕ್ತನೂ ಸಮರ್ಥನೂ ಆಗಿದ್ದರೂ ಏಕಾಗ್ರನಾಗಿ ಆ ಕಾರ್ಯವನ್ನು ಮಾಡದೆ ಇರುವ ಭೃತ್ಯನನ್ನು ‘ಪುರುಷಾಧಮ’ ಎಂದು ಕರೆಯುತ್ತಾರೆ.
"If one who is capable and efficient has been entrusted with a task by a king and fails to do the work agreed to, is said to be a lowly person."
FAQs
Accountability is dharma: accepting a duty (especially a public duty) and then failing it is morally degrading, regardless of one’s talent.
The text completes a moral hierarchy of service—best, middling, and worst—implicitly contrasting with Hanumān’s fulfilled duty.
Reliability (kṛtaniścayatā): the virtue of actually completing what one has undertaken.