Valmiki Ramayana 2.24.5: Ayodhya Kanda, Sarga 24, Shloka 5

कौशल्यारामसंवादः · Kausalya

Rama Dialogue on Exile-Dharma

Devanagari script

नूनं तु बलवान् लोके कृतान्तस्सर्वमादिशन् ।

लोके रामाभिरामस्त्वं वनं यत्र गमिष्यसि ॥५॥

Recitation with translationValmiki Ramayana 2.24.5

Transliteration

nūnaṃ tu balavān loke kṛtāntaḥ sarvam ādiśan |

loke rāmābhirāmas tvaṃ vanaṃ yatra gamiṣyasi ||5||

Translation

നിശ്ചയമായും ലോകത്തിൽ കൃതാന്തൻ (വിധി) മഹാബലവാനാണ്; എല്ലാം ആജ്ഞാപിക്കുന്നു. അതുകൊണ്ടുതന്നെ ലോകത്തിന് ആനന്ദമായ രാമാ, നീയും വനത്തിലേക്കു പോകേണ്ടിവരുന്നു.

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Word by Word

• nūnam: certainly
• nūnam: Kriyāviśeṣaṇa (क्रियाविशेषणम्)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: nūnam (अव्यय)
• Form: निश्चय-अव्यय (adverb of certainty)

• tu: indeed/but
• tu: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tu (अव्यय)
• Form: निपात

• balavān: powerful
• balavān: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: balavat (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; विशेषणम्

• loke: in the world
• loke: Adhikaraṇa (अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: loka (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• kṛtāntaḥ: fate/death (destiny)
• kṛtāntaḥ: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kṛtānta (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• sarvam: everything
• sarvam: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: sarva (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• ādiśan: commanding
• ādiśan: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Verb
• Root: ā-diś (धातु)
• Form: शतृ-प्रत्ययान्त (present active participle), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; अर्थ: ‘ordering/commanding’

• loke: in the world
• loke: Adhikaraṇa (अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: loka (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• rāmābhirāmaḥ: Rama, delight of the world
• rāmābhirāmaḥ: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: rāma (प्रातिपदिक) + abhirāma (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः: rāmāṇām abhirāmaḥ / ‘delightful like Rama’ (epithet)

• tvam: you
• tvam: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yusmad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: मध्यमपुरुष-सर्वनाम, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• vanam: to the forest
• vanam: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: vana (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• yatra: where
• yatra: Adhikaraṇa (अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: yatra (अव्यय)
• Form: सम्बन्ध/देश-अव्यय (relative adverb: where)

• gamiṣyasi: you will go
• gamiṣyasi: Kriyā (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: gam (धातु)
• Form: लृट्-लकार (Simple Future), परस्मैपद, मध्यमपुरुष, एकवचन

Context

O Rama! if you, being the delight of the world, are (ordered) to go to the forest, ithas to be said certainly that destiny which rules everything is all-powerful.

Characters & Entities

• Kausalyā
• Rāma
• Kṛtānta (Fate/Destiny)

FAQs

What is the core ethical principle (Dharma) in this verse?

It points to the tension between dharma and suffering: even the righteous may endure hardship. The verse frames exile not as moral failure but as a turn of destiny within the larger moral universe.

What is the narrative situation?

Kausalyā, overwhelmed, interprets Rāma’s exile as evidence of fate’s overwhelming force.

Which character virtue is emphasized?

Rāma as ‘lokābhirāma’—one who brings joy and order to society—making his removal from Ayodhyā feel cosmically disruptive.