Valmiki Ramayana 2.9.63: Ayodhya Kanda, Sarga 9, Shloka 63

मन्थराप्रेरणा · वरद्वय-स्मरणं च

Manthara’s Provocation and the Recalling of Two Boons

Devanagari script

यमस्य वा मां विषयं गतामितो निशाम्य कुब्जे प्रतिवेदयिष्यसि ।

वनं गते वा सुचिराय राघवे समृद्धकामो भरतो भविष्यति ॥६३॥

Recitation with translationValmiki Ramayana 2.9.63

Transliteration

yamasya vā māṃ viṣayaṃ gatām ito niśāmya kubje prative-dayiṣyasi |

vanaṃ gate vā sucirāya rāghave samṛddhakāmo bharato bhaviṣyati ||63||

Translation

ഹേ കൂനക്കാരിയേ, ഞാൻ ഇവിടെ നിന്ന് യമലോകത്തിലേക്ക് പോയതായി നീ കണ്ടാൽ അത് അറിയിക്കാം. അല്ലെങ്കിൽ, രാഘവൻ ദീർഘകാലം വനത്തിലേക്ക് പോയാൽ, ഭരതന്റെ ആഗ്രഹം പൂർണ്ണമായി നിറവേറും.

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Word by Word

• yamasya: of Yama (death)
• yamasya: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yama (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine (पुंलिङ्ग), Genitive (6th/षष्ठी), Singular (एकवचन)

• vā: or
• vā: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: vā (अव्यय)
• Form: Particle/alternative (विकल्पार्थक अव्यय)

• mām: me
• mām: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: asmad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Pronoun (सर्वनाम), Accusative (2nd/द्वितीया), Singular (एकवचन)

• viṣayam: to the realm/domain
• viṣayam: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: viṣaya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine (पुंलिङ्ग), Accusative (2nd/द्वितीया), Singular (एकवचन)

• gatām: gone (having gone)
• gatām: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: gam (धातु) + gata (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Past passive participle (क्त/कृत्), Feminine (स्त्रीलिङ्ग), Accusative (2nd/द्वितीया), Singular (एकवचन); agrees with mām (me)

• itaḥ: from here
• itaḥ: Apādāna (अपादान)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: itaḥ (अव्यय)
• Form: Adverb (देशवाचक अव्यय)

• niśāmya: having seen
• niśāmya: Kriyāviśeṣaṇa (क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Verb
• Root: ni-√śam (धातु)
• Form: Absolutive/Gerund (ल्यप्/क्त्वान्त), ‘having seen/observed’

• kubje: O hunchback (Mantharā)
• kubje: Sambodhana (सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kubjā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Feminine (स्त्रीलिङ्ग), Vocative (8th/सम्बोधन), Singular (एकवचन)

• prativedayiṣyasi: you will report/inform
• prativedayiṣyasi: Kriyā (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: prati-√vid (धातु)
• Form: Future (लृट्), 2nd person (मध्यमपुरुष), Singular (एकवचन), Parasmaipada (परस्मैपद)

• vanam: to the forest
• vanam: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: vana (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter (नपुंसकलिङ्ग), Accusative (2nd/द्वितीया), Singular (एकवचन)

• gate: when (he) has gone
• gate: Adhikaraṇa (अधिकरण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: gam (धातु) + gata (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Past passive participle (क्त), Locative (7th/सप्तमी), Singular (एकवचन); Masculine/Neuter locative; here with rāghave (locative absolute sense)

• vā: or
• vā: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: vā (अव्यय)
• Form: Particle/alternative (विकल्पार्थक अव्यय)

• sucirāya: for a long time
• sucirāya: Kāla-adhikaraṇa (कालाधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: sucira (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Adverbial dative (चिरार्थे चतुर्थी; ‘for a long time’)

• rāghave: when Rāghava (Rāma)
• rāghave: Adhikaraṇa (अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: rāghava (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine (पुंलिङ्ग), Locative (7th/सप्तमी), Singular (एकवचन)

• samṛddhakāmaḥ: having achieved his desire
• samṛddhakāmaḥ: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: samṛddha + kāma (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Tatpuruṣa (तत्पुरुष) ‘samṛddha-kāma’ = ‘fulfilled-desire’; Masculine (पुंलिङ्ग), Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Singular (एकवचन); qualifies bharataḥ

• bharataḥ: Bharata
• bharataḥ: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: bharata (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine (पुंलिङ्ग), Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Singular (एकवचन)

• bhaviṣyati: will become/will be
• bhaviṣyati: Kriyā (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √bhū (धातु)
• Form: Future (लृट्), 3rd person (प्रथमपुरुष), Singular (एकवचन), Parasmaipada (परस्मैपद)

Context

Tell the king that he will see either the fulfilment of Bharata's desire after Rama is banished into the forest for a long period or me gone to Yama's abode.

Characters & Entities

• Yama
• Mantharā
• Rāghava (Rāma)
• Bharata
• Vana (forest)

FAQs

What dharma-related tension is present in this verse?

It frames a morally charged choice where personal desire (Bharata’s ‘fulfilment’) is set against the righteous order (dharma) embodied by Rāma’s rightful place; the verse highlights how adharma can be pursued through exile and harm.

How does the verse engage the theme of satya (truth)?

Kaikeyī speaks as if the outcome is inevitable—either her own death or Rāma’s long exile—using stark ‘either/or’ language to assert a grim certainty; the ethical issue is that this ‘truth-claim’ is used to justify an unjust aim.