Ramayana — Ayodhya Kanda, Sarga 10, Shloka 23
क्रोधागारप्रवेशः — Entry into the Chamber of Wrath
Kaikeyī’s Protest
स वृद्धस्तरुणीं भार्यां प्राणेभ्योपि गरीयसीम्।।।।अपापः पापसङ्कल्पां ददर्श धरणीतले।लतामिव विनिष्कृत्तां पतितां देवतामिव।।।।किन्नरीमिव निर्धूतां च्युतामप्सरसं यथा।मायामिव परिभ्रष्टां हरिणीमिव संयताम्।।।।
sa vṛddhas taruṇīṃ bhāryāṃ prāṇebhyo 'pi garīyasīm |
apāpaḥ pāpasaṅkalpāṃ dadarśa dharaṇītale |
latām iva viniṣkṛttāṃ patitāṃ devatām iva |
kinnarīm iva nirdhūtāṃ cyutām apsarasaṃ yathā |
māyām iva paribhraṣṭāṃ hariṇīm iva saṃyatām ||
വൃദ്ധനായ രാജാവ്—ഹൃദയത്തിൽ നിർമലൻ—പ്രാണങ്ങളേക്കാൾ പ്രിയമായ തന്റെ യുവതിയായ ഭാര്യയെ ധരണീതലത്തിൽ വീണുകിടക്കുന്നതായി കണ്ടു; പാപസങ്കൽപമുള്ളവളായിരുന്നാലും. അവൾ മുറിഞ്ഞ ലതപോലെ, സ്ഥാനച്യുതയായ ദേവതപോലെ, തള്ളിക്കളഞ്ഞ കിന്നരിപോലെ, സ്വർഗ്ഗത്തിൽ നിന്ന് വീണ അപ്സരസ്സുപോലെ, വഴിതെറ്റിയ മായപോലെ, ബന്ധിതമായ മാൻപോലെ തോന്നി.
The guileless, old king beheld his youthful wife who was dearer to him than his own life, filled with deceitful intentions. She looked like a severed creeper, like a goddess fallen down, like a 'Kinnari' thrown down on earth, like an 'apsarasa' slipped from heaven, like an illusion torn, like a female deer tied down.
FAQs
It exposes the moral tension between outward beauty/distress and inner intention: dharma requires discernment (viveka) so that compassion is not exploited by deceit.
Daśaratha sees Kaikeyī on the ground and is overwhelmed; the narrator describes her appearance through a chain of evocative similes.
Daśaratha’s guilelessness and love; the verse implicitly warns that lack of discernment can be a weakness when confronted with adharma.