Shloka 23

शिवधनुर्दर्शनं—रामेण धनुर्भङ्गश्च

The Showing of Śiva’s Bow and Rama’s Breaking of It

Devanagari script

मम सत्या प्रतिज्ञा च वीर्यशुल्केति कौशिक।सीता प्राणैर्बहुमता देया रामाय मे सुता।।।।

Transliteration

mama satyā pratijñā ca vīryaśulketi kauśika | sītā prāṇair bahumatā deyā rāmāya me sutā ||

Translation

အို ကောသိက၊ “ဗီရိယသည် မင်္ဂလာတန်ဖိုး ဖြစ်စေ” ဟူသော ကျွန်ုပ်၏ သစ္စာကတိသည် ပြည့်စုံသွားပြီ။ အသက်ရှူထက်ပင် ပိုချစ်မြတ်နိုးသော စီတာ—ကျွန်ုပ်၏သမီးကို ရာမအား ပေးအပ်ရမည်။

Word by Word

• mama: my
• mama: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: asmad (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: सर्वनाम; षष्ठी एकवचन

• satyā: true / fulfilled
• satyā: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: satya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा एकवचन; pratijñā-विशेषण (‘true/fulfilled’)

• pratijñā: vow
• pratijñā: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: pratijñā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा एकवचन

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

• vīrya-śulka-iti: (called) “as the price being prowess”
• vīrya-śulka-iti: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: vīrya (प्रातिपदिक) + śulka (प्रातिपदिक) + iti (अव्यय)
• Form: इति-प्रयोग (quotative particle); vīrya-śulka = तत्पुरुष (‘bride-price as prowess’/‘reward of valor’), here as quoted designation

• kauśika: O Kauśika
• kauśika: Sambodhana (सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kauśika (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुल्लिङ्ग, संबोधन एकवचन

• sītā: Sītā
• sītā: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: sītā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा एकवचन

• prāṇaiḥ: than (my) lives / life-breaths
• prāṇaiḥ: Karaṇa (करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: prāṇa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुल्लिङ्ग, तृतीया बहुवचन; तुलना/अतिशयार्थे (instrumental of comparison: ‘more than life’)

• bahumatā: highly cherished
• bahumatā: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: bahumata (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा एकवचन; sītā-विशेषण (‘highly valued’)

• deyā: is to be given
• deyā: Kriyā (क्रिया)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: dā (धातु)
• Form: यत्/तव्यत्-अर्थे ‘deya’ (gerundive/obligatory participle); स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा एकवचन; विधेय-विशेषण (‘to be given’)

• rāmāya: to Rāma
• rāmāya: Sampradāna (सम्प्रदान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: rāma (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुल्लिङ्ग, चतुर्थी (4th) एकवचन

• me: my
• me: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: asmad (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: सर्वनाम; षष्ठी एकवचन

• sutā: daughter
• sutā: Apposition (समनाधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: sutā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा एकवचन; sītā-समनाधिकरण

Context

O Son of Kausika! I announce Sita to be the 'Reward of prowess'. My vow has come true. She is more valuable than my life and fit to be given to Rama.

Characters & Entities

• Janaka
• Viśvāmitra (Kauśika)
• Sītā
• Rāma

FAQs

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

Satya (truthfulness) as dharma: Janaka upholds his public vow without wavering, showing that a ruler’s word must be honored.

What is the narrative situation?

Janaka formally announces that, since the condition has been met, Sītā will be given in marriage to Rāma.

Which character virtue is emphasized?

Janaka’s fidelity to promise and duty—personal attachment (Sītā dearer than life) does not override righteousness and truth.