Valmiki Ramayana 2.73.17: Ayodhya Kanda, Sarga 73, Shloka 17

भरतस्य कैकेय्याः प्रति धिक्कारः · Bharata’s Rebuke of Kaikeyi and Affirmation of Ikshvaku Royal Dharma

Spoken by Bharata to KaikeyiSetting: Ayodhyā (palace chambers)

Devanagari script

अथवा मे भवेच्छक्तिर्योगैर्बुद्धिबलेन वा ।

सकामां न करिष्यामि त्वामहं पुत्रगर्धिनीम् ॥१७॥

Recitation with translationValmiki Ramayana 2.73.17

Transliteration

athavā me bhavec chaktir yogair buddhi-balena vā |

sakāmāṃ na kariṣyāmi tvām ahaṃ putra-gardhinīm ||17||

Translation

Sekalipun aku memperoleh kekuatan melalui siasat pemerintahan atau melalui daya akal budi, aku tidak akan membiarkan engkau—yang tamak akan puteramu—mencapai maksud yang engkau idamkan.

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Word by Word

• athavā: or else
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: athavā (अव्यय)
• Form: Vikalpa-avyaya (disjunctive particle)
• Role: Discourse connector (निपात)

• me: for me; of me
• Type: Noun
• Root: asmad (अस्मद्, सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Ṣaṣṭhī (6th/gen.) Ekavacana; 'to me/for me' sense also possible, here possession with śaktiḥ
• Role: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)

• bhavet: might be
• Type: Verb
• Root: √bhū (भू, धातु)
• Form: Vidhiliṅ (optative), Parasmaipada, Prathama-puruṣa, Ekavacana
• Role: Kriyā (क्रिया)

• śaktiḥ: power; ability
• Type: Noun
• Root: śakti (शक्ति, प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Strīliṅga, Prathamā, Ekavacana
• Role: Karta (कर्ता/Subject)

• yogaiḥ: by expedients
• Type: Noun
• Root: yoga (योग, प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Puṃliṅga, Tṛtīyā, Bahuvacana; 'by means of stratagems/expedients'
• Role: Karaṇa (करण)

• buddhi-balena: by strength of intellect
• Type: Noun
• Root: buddhi (बुद्धि) + bala (बल)
• Form: Tatpuruṣa (षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष: buddheḥ balam), Napuṃsakaliṅga, Tṛtīyā, Ekavacana
• Role: Karaṇa (करण)
• Compound: Tatpurusha

• vā: or
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: vā (अव्यय)
• Form: Vikalpa-nipāta (or)
• Role: Samuccaya/Vikalpa (निपात)

• sakāmām: with your desire fulfilled
• Type: Adjective
• Root: sa-kāma (सकाम, प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Karmadhāraya/Upapada: sa + kāma 'with desire fulfilled'; Strīliṅga, Dvitīyā, Ekavacana; adjective of tvām
• Role: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Compound: Karmadharaya

• na: not
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: na (अव्यय)
• Form: Niṣedha-avyaya
• Role: Kriyā-viśeṣaṇa

• kariṣyāmi: I will make/do
• Type: Verb
• Root: √kṛ (कृ, धातु)
• Form: Luṭ-lakāra (periphrastic future), Parasmaipada, Uttama-puruṣa, Ekavacana
• Role: Kriyā (क्रिया)

• tvām: you
• Type: Noun
• Root: tvad (युष्मद्, सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Dvitīyā, Ekavacana
• Role: Karma (कर्म/Object)

• aham: I
• Type: Noun
• Root: asmad (अस्मद्)
• Form: Prathamā, Ekavacana
• Role: Karta (कर्ता)

• putra-gardhinīm: covetous of a son
• Type: Adjective
• Root: putra (पुत्र) + gardhinī (गर्धिनी, प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Tatpuruṣa (object-relation: putram gardhati iti), Strīliṅga, Dvitīyā, Ekavacana; vocative sense implied but form is accusative agreeing with tvām
• Role: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Compound: Tatpurusha

Sandhi Notes

• bhavecchaktiḥ = bhavet + śaktiḥ
• yogair = yogaiḥ
• tvām ahaṃ = tvām + aham

Context

If I gather the strength (to carry the burden) either by employing the four expedients (available to a king against an enemy) or by the power of intellect, I will not allow you, covetous of your son, to fulfil your ambition.

The teaching

Even great intellect and strategy must not be harnessed to fulfill desire that violates dharma.

Duties in tension

• Using nīti/expedients to secure personal/political advantage vs upholding rightful succession and moral order
• Filial deference to queen-mother vs resistance to her adharmic desire

Ethical theme

Nīti-dharma / rājadharma

How it resolves

Principled refusal (dharma-prādhānya over nīti)

For your practice

Practice of saṅkalpa-śuddhi: refusing to weaponize intelligence for adharma; strengthens inner vows.

Mood and themes

Rasa

Vira (heroism), with Raudra (fury)

Mood

Unyielding, morally resolute, defiant

Themes

• Dharma
• Satya
• Ethics
• Renunciation of unjust gain
• Political morality

Symbolism

Relationships

Cross references

Meter and recitation

Characters & Entities

• Bharata
• Kaikeyī
• son (putra) — Bharata (implied as the object of ambition)

FAQs

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

Dharma rejects success obtained through injustice; even legitimate skills of governance and strategy must not be used to validate an adharmic outcome.

What is the narrative situation?

Bharata directly tells Kaikeyī that even if he had the means—strategy or intellect—he would not cooperate in fulfilling her plan to enthrone her son.

Which character virtue is emphasized?

Satya and moral steadfastness—Bharata’s refusal to profit from wrongdoing, even when he could potentially consolidate power.