Ramayana — Ayodhya Kanda, Sarga 61, Shloka 15

कौसल्याविलापः

Kausalya’s Lament and Ethical Analogies on Kingship

Devanagari script

एवं कनीयसा भ्रात्रा भुक्तं राज्यं विशाम्पते।भ्राता ज्येष्ठो वरिष्ठश्च किमर्थं नावमंस्यते।।2.61.15।।

Transliteration

evaṃ kanīyasā bhrātrā bhuktaṃ rājyaṃ viśāṃpate |

bhrātā jyeṣṭho variṣṭhaś ca kimarthaṃ nāvamaṃsyate ||

Translation

ထိုနည်းတူပင် လူတို့၏အရှင်တော်ရေ—အငယ်ညီက နိုင်ငံတော်ကို ‘ခံစားသုံးစွဲ’ ပြီးသွားလျှင် အကြီးအကဲဖြစ်၍ ပိုမိုထိုက်တန်သော အကိုက ဘာကြောင့် မထီမဲ့မြင် မဖြစ်ရမည်နည်း။

Word by Word

• एवम्: thus
• एवम्: Kriya-viseshana (क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: एवम् (अव्यय)
• Form: प्रकारार्थक-अव्यय (thus/in this manner)

• कनीयसा: by the younger
• कनीयसा: Visheshana (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: कनीयस् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन; तुलनात्मक (comparative) विशेषणम् for भ्रात्रा

• भ्रात्रा: by (his) brother
• भ्रात्रा: Karana (करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: भ्रातृ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• भुक्तम्: enjoyed/occupied
• भुक्तम्: Predicate (विधेय)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: भुज् (धातु) + क्त (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; क्त-प्रत्ययान्त भूतकर्मणि; विधेय-विशेषणम् for राज्यम्

• राज्यम्: the kingdom
• राज्यम्: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: राज्य (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• विशाम्पते: O lord of the people
• विशाम्पते: Sambodhana (सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: विशाम् + पति (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन-विभक्ति (Vocative), एकवचन; तत्पुरुषः—विशां पतिः (lord of people)

• भ्राता: the brother
• भ्राता: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: भ्रातृ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• ज्येष्ठः: elder
• ज्येष्ठः: Visheshana (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: ज्येष्ठ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; विशेषणम् for भ्राता

• वरिष्ठः: most excellent
• वरिष्ठः: Visheshana (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: वरिष्ठ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; अतिशय-तुलनात्मक (superlative) विशेषणम्

• च: and
• च: Samuccaya (समुच्चय)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चयार्थक-अव्यय

• किमर्थम्: why?
• किमर्थम्: Kriya-viseshana (क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: किम् + अर्थम् (अव्ययवत् प्रयोगः)
• Form: प्रश्नार्थक-अव्यय (interrogative: for what reason/why)

• न: not
• न: Nipata (निपात)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न (अव्यय)
• Form: निषेधार्थक-अव्यय

• अवमंस्यते: will disdain
• अवमंस्यते: Kriya (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: अव + मन् (धातु)
• Form: लृट्-लकार (Simple Future), प्रथम-पुरुष, एकवचन; आत्मनेपद; अर्थः—अवज्ञास्यते (will disdain)

Context

O Lord of the world! why not the eldest and the most distinguished among the brothers likewise disdain the kingdom enjoyed by the younger brother?

Characters & Entities

• Daśaratha (viśāṃpati)
• kingdom (rājya)

FAQs

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

Dharma is rightful order and legitimacy: what belongs to the elder by justice should not be made morally ‘second-hand’ through political maneuvering.

What is the narrative situation?

Kauśalyā argues that once Bharata rules, the kingdom becomes ethically tainted for Rāma—like a ‘leftover’—thus warning Daśaratha of irreversible harm.

Which character virtue is emphasized?

Concern for maryādā (propriety) and royal righteousness—Kauśalyā defends the principle of rightful succession and honor.