Valmiki Ramayana 2.75.31: Ayodhya Kanda, Sarga 75, Shloka 31
अयोध्याकाण्डे पञ्चसप्ततितमः सर्गः
Sarga 75: Bharata and Kausalya · Reproach, Oaths, and Reconciliation
Spoken by Bharata to KaikeyiSetting: Ayodhya palace precincts (speech context)Places named: Ayodhya
गाश्च स्पृशतु पादेन गुरून्परिवदेत्स्वयम् ।
मित्रे द्रुह्येत सोऽत्यन्तं यस्याऽर्योऽनुमते गतः ॥३१॥
gāś ca spṛśatu pādena gurūn parivadet svayam |
mitre druhyeta so 'tyantaṁ yasyāryo 'numate gataḥ ||31||
Semoga orang yang dengan nasihatnya saudaraku yang mulia dibuang melakukan dosa paling berat: semoga dia menendang lembu dengan kakinya, mencela para tua-tua dan guru dengan mulutnya sendiri, dan mengkhianati sahabatnya sepenuhnya.
Sandhi Notes
- गाश्च = गाः + च
- गुरून्परिवदेत् = गुरून् + परिवदेत्
- सोऽत्यन्तं = सः + अत्यन्तम्
- यस्याऽर्योऽनुमते = यस्य + आर्यः + अनुमते
May the one who counselled the exile of my esteemed brother acquire the sin in the same way a person who kicks the cows abuses elders and causes great offence to his friends!
The teaching
Dharma is guarded by reverence—toward cows, elders, and friends; betrayal of these pillars is social and spiritual ruin.
Duties in tension
- Righteous indignation vs restraint in speech
- Protecting Rama’s honor vs maintaining courtly decorum
- Ethical theme
- Ahiṃsā / ācāra / mitra-dharma
- How it resolves
- Moral censure through listing adharma acts
For your practice
Cultivating reverence (gau-sevā, guru-sevā) and fidelity in friendships; using anger to discern adharma without becoming cruel.
Mood and themes
- Rasa
- Raudra (fury), with Bibhatsa (disgust)
- Mood
- Scathing, accusatory, transgressive
Themes
- Dharma
- Ethics
- Satya
- Social order
- Itihasa
Violation of reverence (for cow/elder/friend) signals descent into tamas and bondage through adharma.
Ethic of non-injury and reverence for life (ahiṃsā) as later systematized; honoring elders as a foundational dharmic value.
- Bharata and Rama
- Brothers; protective loyalty toward exiled elder (compassionate)
- Bharata and Manthara
- Imprecation against perceived instigator; moral condemnation (furious)
- Manthara and Cows
- Sacrilege against revered beings (gau-mātṛ) (violent)
- Manthara and Friends
- Betrayal of friendship (mitra-droha) (treacherous)
Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.75.30, 2.75.32-34 (same imprecation chain)
Dharmaśāstra prohibitions: gau-apacāra, guru-nindā, mitra-droha
Ayodhyākāṇḍa: repeated emphasis on Rama as 'ārya' and exile as moral rupture
Anuṣṭup (śloka)
Commanding
Tīvra-gati with emphatic caesura on gāś ca spṛśatu / gurūn parivadet
FAQs
Dharma is upheld through reverence and loyalty: harming the innocent (cows), dishonoring elders, and betraying friends are paradigms of adharma.
Bharata’s denunciation culminates in listing socially and morally abhorrent acts, projecting the moral consequence of causing Rāma’s exile.
Moral clarity and relational fidelity—Bharata treats cruelty, disrespect, and betrayal as the clearest signs of ethical collapse.
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