Valmiki Ramayana 2.21.14: Ayodhya Kanda, Sarga 21, Shloka 14

अयोध्याकाण्डे एकविंशः सर्गः · Lakṣmaṇa’s militant counsel and Rāma’s dharma

based persuasion of Kausalyā

Devanagari script

बलमेष किमाश्रित्य हेतुं वापुरुषर्षभ ।

दातुमिच्छति कैकेय्यै राज्यं स्थितमिदं तव ॥१४॥

Recitation with translationValmiki Ramayana 2.21.14

Transliteration

balam eṣa kim āśritya hetuṃ vā puruṣarṣabha |

dātum icchati kaikeyyai rājyaṃ sthitam idaṃ tava ||14||

Translation

အို လူတို့တွင် အမြတ်ဆုံးသူရေ၊ ဤဘုရင်သည် မည်သည့်အင်အား—သို့မဟုတ် မည်သည့်အကြောင်းပြချက်—ကို အားထား၍ သင်၏အခွင့်အရေးဖြစ်သော နိုင်ငံတော်ကို ကေကေယီအား ပေးအပ်လိုသနည်း။

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Word by Word

• balam: power/strength
• balam: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: bala (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Napumsaka (नपुंसकलिङ्ग), Dvitīyā vibhakti (2nd/द्वितीया), Ekavacana (singular)

• eṣaḥ: this man/he
• eṣaḥ: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: etad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Pumliṅga (पुंलिङ्ग), Prathamā vibhakti (1st/प्रथमा), Ekavacana; sarvanāma (pronoun)

• kim: what
• kim: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kim (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Napumsaka (नपुंसकलिङ्ग), Dvitīyā vibhakti (2nd/द्वितीया), Ekavacana; interrogative pronoun

• āśritya: having resorted to
• āśritya: Kriyāviśeṣaṇa (क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Verb
• Root: ā-śri (धातु)
• Form: Ktvānta (क्त्वान्त) absolutive/gerund; ‘having resorted to’

• hetum: reason/cause
• hetum: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: hetu (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Pumliṅga (पुंलिङ्ग), Dvitīyā vibhakti, Ekavacana

• vā: or
• vā: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/connector)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: vā (अव्यय)
• Form: Vikalpa-avyaya (विकल्पार्थक अव्यय) conjunction ‘or’

• puruṣarṣabha: O best of men
• puruṣarṣabha: Sambodhana (सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: puruṣa + ṛṣabha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Pumliṅga, Sambodhana vibhakti (vocative/सम्बोधन), Ekavacana; ṣaṣṭhī-tatpuruṣa ‘men’s bull’

• dātum: to give
• dātum: Prayojana/Anukriyā (प्रयोजन/अनुक्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: dā (धातु)
• Form: Tumunanta (तुमुनन्त) infinitive; ‘to give’

• icchati: wishes/desires
• icchati: Kriyā (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: iṣ (धातु)
• Form: Laṭ-lakāra (लट्, present), Prathama-puruṣa (3rd), Ekavacana; parasmaipada

• kaikeyyai: to Kaikeyi
• kaikeyyai: Sampradāna (सम्प्रदान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kaikeyī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Strīliṅga (स्त्रीलिङ्ग), Caturthī vibhakti (4th/चतुर्थी), Ekavacana

• rājyam: kingdom
• rājyam: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: rājya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Napumsaka, Dvitīyā vibhakti, Ekavacana

• sthitam: established/standing (as yours)
• sthitam: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: sthita (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक; √sthā धातु)
• Form: Kta (क्त) past passive participle; Napumsaka, Dvitīyā, Ekavacana; agrees with rājyam

• idam: this
• idam: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: idam (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Napumsaka, Dvitīyā, Ekavacana; demonstrative pronoun; agrees with rājyam

• tava: your
• tava: Ṣaṣṭhī-sambandha (षष्ठी-सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tvad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Ṣaṣṭhī vibhakti (6th/षष्ठी), Ekavacana; pronoun

Context

O best of men!, under what authority or reason this king wants to confer on Kaikeyi the kingdom that rightfully belongs to you?

Characters & Entities

• Rāma
• Daśaratha (the king)
• Kaikeyī

FAQs

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

It questions legitimacy and rightful succession: dharma in kingship requires decisions grounded in justice and established right, not arbitrary transfer under improper influence.

What is the narrative situation?

Lakṣmaṇa challenges the rationale behind Daśaratha’s decision to redirect the kingdom’s succession under Kaikeyī’s demand.

Which character virtue is emphasized?

Moral courage to question authority and defend what is perceived as rightful order—paired with intense protectiveness toward Rāma.