Valmiki Ramayana 2.13.7: Ayodhya Kanda, Sarga 13, Shloka 7
अयोध्याकाण्डे त्रयोदशः सर्गः | Kaikeyi Presses the Boons; Dasaratha’s Lament and Collapse
Spoken by Dasharatha to KaikeyiSetting: Ayodhyā palace (inner chamber)Decision-point leading to Rāma’s exile
कैकेय्याः प्रियकामेन रामः प्रव्राजितो मया ।
यदि सत्यं ब्रवीम्येतत्तदसत्यं भविष्यति ॥७॥
kaikeyyāḥ priya-kāmena rāmaḥ pravrājito mayā |
yadi satyaṃ bravīmy etat tad asatyaṃ bhaviṣyati ||7||
കൈകേയിയുടെ പ്രിയാഭിലാഷം നിറവേറ്റാൻ ഞാൻ രാമനെ വനവാസത്തിലേക്ക് അയച്ചു—ഇത് ഞാൻ സത്യമായി പറഞ്ഞാൽ, ആ സത്യം തന്നെയാകും അസത്യമെന്നു കരുതപ്പെടുക.
Sandhi Notes
- ब्रवीम्येतत् = ब्रवीमि + एतत् (i + e → y e)
- तदसत्यम् = तत् + असत्यम् (t + a → d a)
If I tell the truth, 'To please Kaikeyi I have sent Rama to the forest', none will believe it and will consider it untruth.
The teaching
Truth is not merely utterance; when conduct violates dharma, society’s trust collapses and even truth sounds like falsehood—hence integrity must precede testimony.
Duties in tension
- Truthful confession vs fear of disbelief and dishonor
- Keeping vows vs moral responsibility for harm caused
- Kingly reputation vs accountability
- Ethical theme
- Credibility, integrity, and the social life of truth
For your practice
Sādhana of satya with congruence: align intention, action, and speech so that truth remains luminous and believable; avoid desire-driven compromises.
Mood and themes
- Rasa
- Karuna (compassion), with Adbhuta (wonder)
- Mood
- Guilt-ridden, paradoxical, helpless
Themes
- Satya
- Dharma
- Ethics
- Itihasa
- Reputation
When actions contradict dharma, even truthful words lose prāmāṇya (credibility); truth requires congruence of being and doing.
Chāndogya’s satya as that which ‘holds’ (satyam as sustaining reality); here satya fails to ‘hold’ socially because conduct has ruptured alignment.
- Dasharatha and Kaikeyi
- Husband blaming wife’s desire as cause; moral indictment (bitter)
- Dasharatha and Rama
- Father acknowledging his agency in exile; guilt (guilty-grieving)
Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.18-2.20 (public reactions and the implausibility of Daśaratha’s act given his love for Rāma—contextual parallel); Rāmacaritamānasa Ayodhyākāṇḍa: the world’s disbelief that Daśaratha would exile Rāma (thematic parallel)
Nyāya-like concern with prāmāṇya (credibility) of testimony conditioned by character and plausibility (broad allusion)
Ayodhyākāṇḍa: repeated portrayal of Daśaratha’s intense affection for Rāma, making the exile seem unbelievable to others
Anuṣṭup (śloka)
Solemn
Measured, reflective cadence; slight rise on "yadi satyaṃ" and fall on "asatyaṃ"
FAQs
Satya is not only speaking facts but preserving moral credibility: Daśaratha recognizes that actions contrary to dharma can make even truthful speech socially unbelievable.
Daśaratha anticipates public disbelief at the motive behind Rāma’s exile—doing it merely to please Kaikeyī seems morally impossible to others.
Moral awareness and concern for public trust: the king understands that legitimacy depends on dharmic reasoning, not mere assertion.
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