Shloka 18

कुम्भकर्णवधश्रवणेन रावणविलापः

Ravana’s Lament on Hearing of Kumbhakarna’s Slaying

Devanagari script

यद्यहंभ्रातृहन्तारं न हन्मियुधिराघवम् ।ननुमेमरणंश्रेयो न चेदंव्यर्थजीवितम् ।।।।

Transliteration

yady ahaṃ bhrātṛhantāraṃ na hanmi yudhi rāghavam |

nanu me maraṇaṃ śreyo na cedaṃ vyarthajīvitam ||

Translation

စစ်မြေပြင်၌ ငါသည် ငါ့ညီကို သတ်ခဲ့သူ ရာဃဝကို မသတ်နိုင်လျှင်၊ အမှန်တကယ် ငါ့အတွက် သေခြင်းက ပိုကောင်း၏။ မဟုတ်လျှင် ဤအသက်တာသည် အဓိပ္ပါယ်မဲ့သက်သက်ပင် ဖြစ်လိမ့်မည်။

Word by Word

• यदि: if
• यदि: सम्बन्ध (condition marker)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: yadi (अव्यय-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: शर्तार्थक अव्यय (conditional conjunction): if

• अहम्: I
• अहम्: कर्ता (Karta)
• Type: Noun
• Root: asmad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: सर्वनाम, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• भ्रातृहन्तारम्: slayer of (my) brother
• भ्रातृहन्तारम्: कर्म (Karma)
• Type: Noun
• Root: bhrātṛ + hantṛ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष: भ्रातुः हन्ता (killer of (my) brother)

• न: not
• न: निपात (particle)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: na (अव्यय-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: निषेध-निपात

• हन्मि: I kill
• हन्मि: क्रिया (kriyā)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √han (धातु)
• Form: लट् (Present), उत्तमपुरुष, एकवचन, परस्मैपद

• युधि: in battle
• युधि: अधिकरण (Adhikaraṇa)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yudh (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, सप्तमी, एकवचन (locative adverbial): in battle

• राघवम्: Raghava (Rama)
• राघवम्: कर्म (Karma)
• Type: Noun
• Root: rāghava (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन

• ननु: surely
• ननु: निपात (particle)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: nanu (अव्यय-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: निपात (particle) expressing insistence/appeal: surely/indeed

• मे: for me
• मे: सम्बन्ध (ṣaṣṭhī-sambandha)
• Type: Noun
• Root: asmad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: सर्वनाम, षष्ठी, एकवचन

• मरणम्: death
• मरणम्: प्रधानीय (predicate)
• Type: Noun
• Root: maraṇa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; predicate nominative

• श्रेयः: better
• श्रेयः: प्रधानीय (predicate)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: śreyas (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; comparative/superior (better) used predicatively

• न: not
• न: निपात (particle)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: na (अव्यय-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: निषेध-निपात

• चेत्: if (not) / otherwise
• चेत्: सम्बन्ध (condition marker)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: cet (अव्यय-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्यय, शर्त/विकल्पार्थक (conditional/exceptive): if / otherwise

• इदम्: this
• इदम्: कर्ता (Karta)
• Type: Noun
• Root: idam (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: सर्वनाम, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• व्यर्थजीवितम्: a futile life
• व्यर्थजीवितम्: प्रधानीय (predicate)
• Type: Noun
• Root: vyartha + jīvita (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; कर्मधारय: व्यर्थं जीवितम्

Context

"This very day, this very minute I shall reach the region where my brother died, I have no interest in life."

Characters & Entities

• Rāvaṇa
• Rāghava (Rāma)
• Kumbhakarṇa

FAQs

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

It shows how vengeance can masquerade as ‘duty’; Dharma requires right intention and justice, not retaliatory obsession.

What is the narrative situation?

Rāvaṇa hardens his grief into a vow: he must kill Rāma or consider life not worth living.

Which character virtue is emphasized?

Determination is emphasized, but ethically distorted—resolve without Dharma becomes destructive fixation.