Valmiki Ramayana 2.8.32 — Ayodhya Kanda, Sarga 8, Shloka 32
मन्थराकैकेयीसंवादः — Mantharā’s Counsel to Kaikeyī
Ayodhyā’s Succession Alarm
तस्मान्न लक्ष्मणे रामः पापं किञ्चित्करिष्यति।रामस्तु भरते पापं कुर्यादिति न संशयः।।2.8.32।।
tasmān na lakṣmaṇe rāmaḥ pāpaṃ kiñcit kariṣyati |
rāmas tu bharate pāpaṃ kuryād iti na saṃśayaḥ ||2.8.32||
അതുകൊണ്ട് രാമൻ ലക്ഷ്മണനോട് അൽപമാത്രം പോലും പാപകരമായ അപകാരം ചെയ്യുകയില്ല; എന്നാൽ ഭരതന്റെ കാര്യത്തിൽ സംശയമില്ല—രാമൻ അവനോട് അപകാരം ചെയ്യും.
Rama will do no harm to Lakshmana. As for Bharata, Rama will doubtless do him harm.
FAQs
Dharma is harmed when one asserts “no doubt” about another’s ill intent without evidence; the verse is a case-study in how untruthful certainty (asatya-niścaya) can corrupt moral decision-making.
Mantharā contrasts Rāma’s bond with Lakṣmaṇa against an alleged threat to Bharata, intensifying Kaikeyī’s fear to prepare her to demand Daśaratha’s boons.
The true virtue in the background is Rāma’s known righteousness; Mantharā’s speech instead exemplifies the vice of calumny (apavāda).
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