Valmiki Ramayana 2.42.8: Ayodhya Kanda, Sarga 42, Shloka 8
द्विचत्वारिंशः सर्गः · दशरथस्य शोक-विलापः तथा कौशल्यागृह-प्रवेशः
Dasaratha’s Lament and Return to Kausalya’s Apartments
Spoken by Dasharatha to KaikeyiSetting: Ayodhyā (palace chamber)
अगृह्णां यच्च ते पाणिमग्निं पर्यणयं च यत् ।
अनुजानामि तत्सर्वमस्मिन् लोके परत्र च ॥८॥
agṛhṇāṃ yac ca te pāṇim agniṃ paryaṇayaṃ ca yat |
anujānāmi tat sarvam asmin loke paratra ca ||8||
നിന്റെ കൈ പിടിക്കുകയും പവിത്ര അഗ്നിയെ പ്രദക്ഷിണം ചെയ്യുകയും ചെയ്തതിലൂടെ ഉണ്ടായ ദാമ്പത്യബന്ധം—ഇഹലോകത്തും പരലോകത്തും—ഞാൻ പൂർണ്ണമായി ഉപേക്ഷിക്കുന്നു.
Sandhi Notes
- अगृह्णां यच्च → अगृह्णाम् + यत् + च
- पाणिमग्निं → पाणिम् + अग्निम्
- तत्सर्वम् → तत् + सर्वम्
- लोके परत्र → लोके + परत्र (no internal sandhi change)
I renounce the relationship established with you through marriage by taking your hand and circumambulating the fire, both in this world and in the next.
The teaching
When dharma is perceived as violated, the aggrieved may invoke the very saṃskāras that bind society; yet anger can itself become adharma if it destroys sacred bonds.
Duties in tension
- Patnī-dharma (marital fidelity and support)
- Mātṛ-dharma (outrage for son+cs suffering)
- Satya/vrata-dharma (king+cs vow-keeping) vs dayā (compassion)
- Ethical theme
- Gṛhastha-dharma; vācika-śāpa/niṣedha (verbal repudiation)
- How it resolves
- Protest/repudiation (speech as moral sanction)
Devotion and practice
Reflection on sanctity of saṃskāras and careful speech; restraint of anger (krodha-nigraha) as tapas.
- Deity praised
- Agni (as sākṣin/witness)
Mood and themes
- Rasa
- Raudra (fury), with Karuna (compassion)
- Mood
- Searing, accusatory, ritually grave
Themes
- Dharma
- Satya
- Gṛhastha-dharma
- Marriage rites
- Grief
- Renunciation/Repudiation
- Ethics
- Itihasa
Saṃskāra and saṅkalpa bind; a fierce saṅkalpa attempts to undo a prior binding, showing the power (and danger) of vāc (speech) when driven by passion.
Vāc as creative/performative power (e.g., Bṛhadāraṇyaka): words can bless or curse; here words attempt to unmake a sacred tie.
- Kausalya and Dasharatha
- Wife repudiates marital bond (pāŇigrahaṇa/agni-pariṇayana) (Raudra (indignant reproach))
- Kausalya and Agni
- Witness of marriage rite invoked as guarantor (Śānta (ritual solemnity))
- Dasharatha and Agni
- Marriage witness now negated by speech-act (Bhayānaka (fear of moral rupture))
Vālmīki RāmāyaŇa 2.42 (Kausalyā+cs harsh reproach); Mahābhārata: Draupadī+cs courtroom reproaches invoking dharma and marriage bonds
Vedic/Gṛhya marriage rites: pāŇigrahaṇa, saptapadī/agnipradakṣiṇa as sacramental bond
Ayodhyākāṇḍa discussions of vows and boons leading to exile (2.12×2.18)
Anuṣṭubh
Commanding
Tīvra (sharp) on agni/paratra; firm cadence
FAQs
It highlights the gravity of saṃskāra-based bonds (marriage witnessed by Agni) and shows how grief and moral outrage can drive a speaker to reject even sacredly established relationships—raising questions about restraint, speech-ethics, and the sanctity of vows.
Daśaratha, devastated by the exile of Rāma and blaming Kaikeyī’s demands, speaks harshly and declares that he renounces the marital relationship formed through the wedding rites.
The verse foregrounds Daśaratha’s intense emotional sincerity and his sense of violated righteousness—though it also implicitly contrasts with the virtue of self-control (dama) expected in dhārmic speech.
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