Valmiki Ramayana 1.21.6: Bala Kanda, Sarga 21, Shloka 6

बालकाण्डे एकविंशः सर्गः · Daśaratha’s Promise, Vasiṣṭha’s Counsel, and Viśvāmitra’s Weapon

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Devanagari script

इक्ष्वाकूणां कुले जातस्साक्षाद्धर्म इवापरः ।

धृतिमान् सुव्रतः श्रीमान्नधर्मं हातुमर्हसि ॥६॥

Recitation with translationValmiki Ramayana 1.21.6

Transliteration

ikṣvākūṇāṃ kule jātaḥ sākṣād dharma ivāparaḥ |

dhṛtimān suvrataḥ śrīmān na dharmaṃ hātum arhasi ||6||

Translation

သင်သည် အိက္ရှ္ဝာကု မင်းဆက်၌ မွေးဖွားသူဖြစ်၍၊ သကာလကဲ့သို့ ဓမ္မတော်၏ ဒုတိယရုပ်သဏ္ဍာန်တစ်ပါးပင်—တည်ကြည်ခိုင်မာ၍ ကောင်းမြတ်သော ဝရတ (သစ္စာကတိ) များကို စောင့်ထိန်းသူ၊ သရေရှိထွန်းလင်းသူ ဖြစ်သည်။ ဓမ္မ (ကတိပြုထားသော တာဝန်) ကို မစွန့်လွှတ်သင့်။

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Word by Word

• इक्ष्वाकूणाम्: of the Ikṣvāku (dynasty)
• इक्ष्वाकूणाम्: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/षष्ठी)
• Type: Noun
• Root: इक्ष्वाकु (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी-विभक्ति (सम्बन्ध), बहुवचन

• कुले: in the lineage/family
• कुले: Adhikarana (अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: कुल (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी-विभक्ति (अधिकरण), एकवचन

• जातः: born
• जातः: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Verb
• Root: जन् (धातु)
• Form: क्त-प्रत्ययान्त (past passive participle), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; 'born'

• साक्षात्: directly/manifestly
• साक्षात्: Kriyāviśeṣaṇa (क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: साक्षात् (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; क्रियाविशेषण/निपात (directly, manifestly)

• धर्मः: Dharma/righteousness
• धर्मः: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: धर्म (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• इव: like
• इव: Sambandha (उपमान-सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: इव (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; उपमानवाचक (like/as)

• अपरः: another (as it were)
• अपरः: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अपर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; विशेषणम् (another/second)

• धृतिमान्: firm/steadfast
• धृतिमान्: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: धृति-मत् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; मतुप्-प्रत्ययान्त (possessing firmness)

• सुव्रतः: of excellent vows
• सुव्रतः: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सु-व्रत (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• श्रीमान्: illustrious
• श्रीमान्: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: श्री-मत् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; मतुप्-प्रत्ययान्त (possessing splendor/fortune)

• न: not
• न: Sambandha (निषेध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; निषेध (negation)

• धर्मम्: dharma/righteousness
• धर्मम्: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: धर्म (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• हातुम्: to abandon
• हातुम्: Prayojana (प्रयोजन/तुमर्थ)
• Type: Verb
• Root: हा (धातु)
• Form: तुमुन्-प्रत्ययान्त (infinitive), परस्मैपद-धातु; 'to abandon'

• अर्हसि: you are fit/ought
• अर्हसि: Kriyā (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: अर्ह् (धातु)
• Form: लट्-लकार (present), मध्यमपुरुष, एकवचन; परस्मैपदम्

Context

"Born in the line of Ikshvaku, you are a veritable the second god of righteousness, firm adherent of vows auspicious and virtuous. It is not right on your part to abandon yourpromise.

Characters & Entities

• Ikṣvāku (dynasty)
• Daśaratha
• Dharma (personified principle)

FAQs

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

A king’s dharma is to uphold truth and commitments—especially when made to a sage—placing public righteousness above private hesitation.

What is the narrative situation?

At court, Daśaratha is exhorted not to withdraw from the righteous course of action (sending Rāma with Viśvāmitra) after the request has been made.

Which character virtue is emphasized?

Daśaratha’s expected virtue is satya (truthfulness) and dhṛti (steadfastness) in maintaining vows befitting the Ikṣvāku tradition.