Ramayana — Sundara Kanda, Sarga 58, Shloka 144

सुन्दरकाण्डे अष्टपञ्चाशः सर्गः

हनुमद्वृत्तान्तकथनम्, सीताभिज्ञान-प्रदानम्, लङ्कादाह-वर्णनम्

Devanagari script

तेन वध्योऽहमाज्ञप्तो रक्षसा रौद्रकर्मणा।मत्प्रभावमविज्ञाय रावणेन दुरात्मना।।।।

Transliteration

tena vadhyo 'ham ājñapto rakṣasā raudrakarmaṇā | matprabhāvam avijñāya rāvaṇena durātmanā ||

Translation

ကြမ်းတမ်းသောအမှုကို ပြုသူ၊ စိတ်ဆိုးယုတ်သော ရာဝဏသည် ကျွန်ုပ်၏ အစွမ်းအင်အမှန်ကို မသိဘဲ ရက္ခသတို့အား ကျွန်ုပ်ကို သတ်ရန် အမိန့်ပေးလေ၏။

Word by Word

• tena: by him
• tena: Kartr̥ (कर्ता/Agent in passive)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तृतीया (3rd/Instrumental), एकवचन (Singular) सर्वनाम

• vadhyaḥ: to be killed, killable
• vadhyaḥ: Prayojya-bhāva (विधेय/Predicate)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: vadhya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (Masculine), प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन (Singular); विधेय-विशेषण (predicative: ‘fit to be killed’)

• aham: I
• aham: Karta (कर्ता/Subject) (of ‘was ordered’)
• Type: Noun
• Root: asmad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन (Singular) सर्वनाम

• ājñaptaḥ: was ordered
• ājñaptaḥ: Kriyā (क्रिया/Predicate)
• Type: Verb
• Root: ā-jñā (धातु) + kta (कृत् प्रत्यय)
• Form: क्त-प्रत्ययान्त कृदन्त (past passive participle); पुंलिङ्ग (Masculine), प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन (Singular)

• rakṣasā: by the demon
• rakṣasā: Kartr̥ (कर्ता/Agent in passive) (apposition to tena)
• Type: Noun
• Root: rakṣas (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (Masculine), तृतीया (3rd/Instrumental), एकवचन (Singular)

• raudra-karmaṇā: of dreadful actions
• raudra-karmaṇā: Kartr̥ (कर्ता) (as qualifier)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: raudra-karman (प्रातिपदिक; components: raudra + karman)
• Form: कर्मधारय-समास (‘dreadful-deeds’); पुंलिङ्ग (Masculine), तृतीया (3rd/Instrumental), एकवचन (Singular); रक्षसा इत्यस्य विशेषणम्

• mat-prabhāvam: my power
• mat-prabhāvam: Karma (कर्म/Object) (of avijñāya)
• Type: Noun
• Root: mad-prabhāva (प्रातिपदिक; components: mad + prabhāva)
• Form: षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष (‘my power’); पुंलिङ्ग (Masculine), द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन (Singular)

• avijñāya: not knowing, disregarding
• avijñāya: Pūrvakāla-kriyā (पूर्वकाल-क्रिया/Anterior action)
• Type: Verb
• Root: ava-jñā (धातु)
• Form: क्त्वा-प्रत्ययान्त अव्यय (gerund/absolutive): ‘having not known/ignoring’

• rāvaṇena: by Ravana
• rāvaṇena: Kartr̥ (कर्ता/Agent in passive)
• Type: Noun
• Root: rāvaṇa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (Masculine), तृतीया (3rd/Instrumental), एकवचन (Singular)

• durātmanā: by the evil-minded one
• durātmanā: Kartr̥ (कर्ता) (as qualifier)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: dur-ātman (प्रातिपदिक; components: dur + ātman)
• Form: कर्मधारय-समास (‘evil-souled’); पुंलिङ्ग (Masculine), तृतीया (3rd/Instrumental), एकवचन (Singular); rāvaṇena इत्यस्य विशेषणम्

Context

"The evil-minded demon, Ravana, who perpetrates dreadful acts ordered my slaughter, not knowing my power.

Characters & Entities

• Rāvaṇa
• Hanumān
• Rākṣasa

FAQs

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

It contrasts adharma with dharma: acting from cruelty and ignorance leads to unjust decisions, especially against protected persons like emissaries.

What is the narrative situation?

Hanumān recounts that Rāvaṇa, enraged, commanded his death in Laṅkā.

Which character virtue is emphasized?

Hanumān’s steadfastness—his confidence in righteousness and capability despite threats.