Valmiki Ramayana 2.63.24: Ayodhya Kanda, Sarga 63, Shloka 24
दशरथस्य शोकानुचिन्तनं शब्धवेधि-दोषस्मरणं च
Daśaratha’s grief, karmic reflection, and the remembered ‘śabdavedhī’ misdeed
Spoken by Dasharatha to KausalyaSetting: River watering-place in forest darknessMoment just before the fatal shot (hearing the pitcher)
अथान्धकारे त्वश्रौषं जले कुम्भस्य पूर्यतः ।
अचक्षुर्विषये घोषं वारणस्येव नर्दतः ॥२४॥
athāndhakāre tv aśrauṣaṃ jale kumbhasya pūryataḥ |
acakṣur-viṣaye ghoṣaṃ vāraṇasyeva nardataḥ ||24||
പിന്നീട് അന്ധകാരത്തിൽ, എന്റെ കാഴ്ചയ്ക്കപ്പുറത്തുനിന്ന്, വെള്ളത്തിൽ കുടം നിറയുന്ന ശബ്ദം ഞാൻ കേട്ടു—ആനയുടെ ഗർജ്ജനത്തെപ്പോലെ.
Sandhi Notes
- atha+andhakāre → athāndhakāre
- tu+aśrauṣam → tvaśrauṣam
- acakṣus+viṣaye → acakṣurviṣaye
- vāraṇasya+iva → vāraṇasyeva
Then at a place that was out of the range of my sight in darkness I heard the sound of a pitcher being filled with water which resembled the sound of an elephant.
The teaching
Acting on uncertain perception in darkness turns skill into sin; discernment must precede force.
Duties in tension
- Kṣatriya aim to hunt/protect
- Duty to verify before killing (non-negligence)
- Compassion toward unseen beings
- Ethical theme
- Epistemic responsibility and non-violence
For your practice
Meditate on pramāda and cultivate clarity (sattva) before action; practice listening with humility rather than assumption.
Mood and themes
- Rasa
- Bhayanaka (fear), with Karuna (compassion)
- Mood
- Uncertain, foreboding, auditory-focused
Themes
- Dharma
- Satya
- Itihasa
- Ethics
- Error
- Unintended harm
In darkness, superimposition (adhyāsa) occurs: the real (a human filling a pot) is overlaid with the imagined (elephant), producing binding action.
Chāndogya emphasis on satya-jñāna: without clear seeing, one acts in asat (misapprehension); also echoes the sense-control teaching of Kaṭha.
Rātri
- Dasharatha and Darkness
- Cognitive limitation leading to error (conflicted)
- Dasharatha and Elephant
- Auditory comparison
Vālmki Rāmāyaṇa 2.64: identification of the sound as Shravaṇa filling water for his parents; the curse pronounced
Itihāsa motif of śabda-vedha (shooting by sound) leading to unintended brahma-hatyā-like guilt (though victim is not a brāhmaṇa here, the moral weight is comparable)
Daśaratha's death: 'Rāma' as last word, mirroring the curse that he will die lamenting for his son
Anuṣṭubh
Solemn
Mandra (low register)
FAQs
Dharma warns against action based on uncertainty: when perception is unclear (darkness, unseen source), restraint is safer than rashness.
Daśaratha recalls a night by a river when he heard a sound resembling an elephant and misread the situation.
Reflective honesty—Daśaratha narrates the precise sensory mistake that led to later wrongdoing.
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