Valmiki Ramayana 2.21.48: Ayodhya Kanda, Sarga 21, Shloka 48
अयोध्याकाण्डे एकविंशः सर्गः · Lakṣmaṇa’s militant counsel and Rāma’s dharma
based persuasion of Kausalyā
Spoken by RamaSetting: Ayodhya (implied)
त्वया मया च वैदेह्या लक्ष्मणेन सुमित्रया ।
पितुर्नियोगे स्थातव्यमेष धर्मस्सनातनः ॥४८॥
tvayā mayā ca vaidehyā lakṣmaṇena sumitrayā |
pitur niyoge sthātavyam eṣa dharmaḥ sanātanaḥ ||48||
तू, मी, वैदेही, लक्ष्मण आणि सुमित्रा—आपण सर्वांनी पित्याच्या नियोगात स्थिर राहिले पाहिजे; हाच सनातन धर्म आहे.
Sandhi Notes
- धर्मस्सनातनः = धर्मः + सनातनः
You, Sita, Lakshmana, Sumitra and I -- all of us shall abide by the words of my father. This indeed is eternal law.
The teaching
Dharma is upheld not by one alone but by a household/community standing together in rightful duty.
Duties in tension
- Personal attachment and comfort vs obedience to Daśaratha’s niyoga
- Protecting Sītā from hardship vs honoring dharma collectively
- Ethical theme
- Dharma (sanātana-dharma; obedience to rightful command)
- How it resolves
- Collective commitment to authority and sanātana-dharma
Devotion and practice
Useful as a dharma-smaraṇa line for daily resolve; reinforces maryādā, family duty, and steadiness.
- Mantra
- एष धर्मस्सनातनः
Mood and themes
- Rasa
- Shanta (peace), with Vira (heroism)
- Mood
- Principled, collective, unyielding
Themes
- Dharma
- Sanatana Dharma
- Family duty
- Satya
- Obedience
Sanātana-dharma as alignment with ṛta/order; acting from dharma rather than personal preference mirrors living in accordance with the Self’s law (svadharma).
Notion of an enduring order (ṛta/dharma) underlying conduct; echoes the Upaniṣadic valuation of truth/order as foundational.
- Rama and Kausalya
- Shared duty to uphold Daśaratha’s command (principled)
- Rama and Sita
- Husband-wife united in dharma (steadfast)
- Rama and Lakshmana
- Elder brother–younger brother alliance in service (loyal)
- Lakshmana and Sumitra
- Son-mother implied consent/support (dutiful)
- Rama and Sumitra
- Co-mother figure within household dharma (respectful)
Mahābhārata: svadharma and obedience to elders/kingly command themes (e.g., Bhīṣma’s dharma expositions); Rāmacaritamānasa: repeated framing of Rāma’s exile as maryādā and dharma
Dharmaśāstric language of niyoga/ājñā and sanātana-dharma
Ayodhyākāṇḍa: Rāma’s consistent doctrine that father’s word is dharma; Lakṣmaṇa and Sītā’s participation in exile
Anuṣṭup (śloka)
Commanding-solemn
Firm, even intonation; emphasis on ‘dharmaḥ sanātanaḥ’ with a resolved cadence
FAQs
Dharma is defined as collective fidelity to a rightful command and to truth: the family must uphold the father’s injunction as a timeless moral law.
Rāma generalizes his stance into a family-wide commitment, indicating that all close relations should align with Daśaratha’s order regarding exile.
Rāma’s sense of moral universality: he frames personal suffering as participation in an enduring ethical order (sanātana dharma).
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