Valmiki Ramayana 2.75.55: Ayodhya Kanda, Sarga 75, Shloka 55

अयोध्याकाण्डे पञ्चसप्ततितमः सर्गः

Sarga 75: Bharata and Kausalya · Reproach, Oaths, and Reconciliation

Spoken by Bharata to KausalyaSetting: Ayodhyā (implied)

Devanagari script

पानीयदूषके पापं तथैव विषदायके ।

यत्तदेकस्स लभतां यस्यार्योऽनुमते गतः ॥५५॥

Recitation with translationValmiki Ramayana 2.75.55

Transliteration

pānīya-dūṣake pāpaṃ tathaiva viṣa-dāyake |

yat tad ekas sa labhatāṃ yasya āryo 'numate gataḥ ||55||

Translation

ആരുടെയനുമതിയാൽ എന്റെ ആര്യ സഹോദരൻ വനവാസത്തിലേക്കു പോയുവോ, അവൻ കുടിവെള്ളം മലിനമാക്കുന്നവനും വിഷം കൊടുക്കുന്നവനും ലഭിക്കുന്ന പാപം ഒറ്റയ്ക്കു തന്നെ പ്രാപിക്കട്ടെ.

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Word by Word

• पानीयदूषके: in the case of a polluter of drinking-water
• Type: Noun
• Root: पानीय + दूषक (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तत्पुरुष-समास; पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी-विभक्ति, एकवचन; अधिकरण (locative)
• Role: Adhikarana (अधिकरण)
• Compound: Tatpurusha

• पापम्: sin
• Type: Noun
• Root: पाप (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन
• Role: Karma (कर्म)

• तथा: thus/similarly
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तथा (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; क्रियाविशेषण (adverb)
• Role: Kriya-vishesana (क्रियाविशेषण)

• एव: indeed
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: एव (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; अवधारण-निपात
• Role: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)

• विषदायके: in the case of a giver of poison
• Type: Noun
• Root: विष + दायक (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तत्पुरुष-समास; पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी-विभक्ति, एकवचन; अधिकरण (locative)
• Role: Adhikarana (अधिकरण)
• Compound: Tatpurusha

• यत्: whatever
• Type: Noun
• Root: यद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन
• Role: Karma (कर्म)

• तत्: that
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन
• Role: Karma (कर्म)

• एकः: alone
• Type: Adjective
• Root: एक (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; विशेषणम् (saḥ)
• Role: Karta (कर्ता)

• सः: he
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन
• Role: Karta (कर्ता)

• लभताम्: let him obtain
• Type: Verb
• Root: लभ् (धातु)
• Form: लोट् (Imperative), मध्यमपुरुष, बहुवचन; आत्मनेपद
• Role: Kriya (क्रिया)

• यस्य: whose
• Type: Noun
• Root: यद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: षष्ठी-विभक्ति, एकवचन
• Role: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/षष्ठी)

• आर्यः: the noble one
• Type: Noun
• Root: आर्य (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन
• Role: Karta (कर्ता)

• अनुमते: with consent
• Type: Noun
• Root: अनुमति (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, सप्तमी-विभक्ति, एकवचन
• Role: Adhikarana (अधिकरण)

• गतः: has gone/was exiled
• Type: Verb
• Root: गम् (धातु) + क्त (कृदन्त)
• Form: भूतकृदन्त (क्त), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन
• Role: Kriya (क्रिया)

Sandhi Notes

• तथैव = तथा + एव
• यत्तदेकस्स = यत् + तत् + एकः + सः (सन्ध्यन्तर-लोप/पाठभेद; here resolved as यत् तत् एकः सः)

Context

May the sin of polluting drinking water and administering poison to others be put together and be incurred by the man who counselled the exile of my esteemed brother!

The teaching

Adharma that harms the righteous is akin to poisoning the common good; acts that endanger life-supporting resources carry heavy pāpa.

Duties in tension

• Political expediency vs protection of public welfare and righteousness
• Silence to preserve order vs speaking to prevent normalization of harm

Ethical theme

Ahiṃsā violation / public-welfare ethics

How it resolves

Imprecation equating political wrongdoing with grievous public-harm sins

For your practice

Encourages purity (śauca) and non-harm in thought, speech, and action; vigilance against 'poisoning' communal trust.

Mood and themes

Rasa

Raudra (fury), with Bhayanaka (fear)

Mood

Toxic, public-harm, imprecatory

Themes

• Dharma
• Ethics
• Non-harm (ahiṃsā)
• Public welfare
• Itihasa

Symbolism

Relationships

Cross references

Meter and recitation

Characters & Entities

• Bharata
• Rama (ārya)
• water (pānīya)
• poison (viṣa)

FAQs

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

Harming shared necessities like water—or actively poisoning others—is extreme adharma; the verse uses these as benchmarks for the moral gravity of approving unjust harm.

What is the narrative situation?

Bharata heightens his denunciation by comparing the exile’s authorizer to perpetrators of acts that endanger communal life.

Which character virtue is emphasized?

Protectiveness toward life and the common good, expressed through Bharata’s moral outrage at actions akin to poisoning society.