Valmiki Ramayana 2.64.32: Ayodhya Kanda, Sarga 64, Shloka 32
शब्दवेध्य-अनर्थः, ऋषिशापः, दशरथस्य प्राणत्यागः
The Sound-Target Tragedy, the Sage’s Curse, and Dasaratha’s Death
Setting: Ayodhyā (royal quarters)
न त्वहं ते प्रियं पुत्र मातरं पश्य धार्मिक ।
किं नु नालिङ्गसे पुत्र सुकुमार वचो वद ॥३२॥
na tv ahaṃ te priyaṃ putra mātaraṃ paśya dhārmika |
kiṃ nu nāliṅgase putra sukumāra vaco vada ||32||
Wahai anak—yang berpegang pada dharma—jika aku tidak lagi engkau kasihi, sekurang-kurangnya pandanglah ibumu. Mengapa engkau tidak memelukku, wahai anak yang lembut? Ucapkanlah sepatah kata.
Sandhi Notes
- त्वहं (तु + अहम्)
- नालिङ्गसे (न + आलिङ्गसे)
'O righteous son! if I am no longer dear to you, (at least) look at your mother. O tender child, why are you not embracing me? Speak.
The teaching
Dharma may demand painful restraint; yet compassion and respectful speech remain obligatory even when one cannot fulfill others' desires.
Duties in tension
- Rāma's obedience to father/royal command and truth-keeping
- Rāma's duty of filial tenderness toward mother and aged father
- Daśaratha's kingly duty vs paternal attachment
- Ethical theme
- Filial duty vs vow-keeping (satya-dharma)
- How it resolves
- Tragic adherence to higher vow/royal promise despite personal anguish
For your practice
Cultivates karuŇa and mindful speech; reflection on balancing duty with gentleness in relationships.
Mood and themes
- Rasa
- Karuna (compassion), with Shanta (peace)
- Mood
- Pleading, heartbroken, tender
Themes
- Dharma
- Satya
- Itihasa
- Ethics
- Family duty
- Compassion
The pull between pravṛtti-dharma (worldly duties/relations) and nivṛtti-like renunciation; the Self remains untouched while relations grieve (cf. Gītā 2.13, 2.20 as thematic parallel).
Kṭha Upaniṣad motif of choosing the higher good over the merely pleasant (preyas/śreyas), here refracted through familial lament.
- Dasharatha and Rama
- Father-son; elder pleading with departing heir (KaruŇa-mixed (affectionate lament))
- Kausalya and Rama
- Mother-son; appeal for darśana and embrace (KaruŇa (maternal longing))
- Dasharatha and Kausalya
- Husband-wife; shared grief implied (KaruŇa (mutual distress))
Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.64.33-36 (continuation of the same lament); Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.20-23 (Daśaratha's anguish at Rāma's exile decision)
Gītā 2.7-2.8 (despair and pleading) as a thematic analogue, not a direct allusion
Ayodhyākāṇḍa: Daśaratha's repeated attempts to detain Rāma; KauŚlyā's grief elsewhere in 2.66-67
Anuṣṭubh
Grieving
KaruŇa-gāndhāra-pradhāna (soft, descending cadence)
FAQs
Filial dharma: care, affection, and responsiveness toward parents—especially the mother—are presented as the son’s righteous identity, now tragically interrupted.
The father pleads for a response and for the son to acknowledge the mother, reflecting disbelief and the shattering of household-ascetic dependence on the child.
Śravaṇa is remembered as “dhārmika,” implying obedience and service to parents—an ideal of devotion and gentleness.
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