Valmiki Ramayana 2.23.13 — Ayodhya Kanda, Sarga 23, Shloka 13
लक्ष्मणक्रोधः—दैवपुरुषकारविवादः
Lakshmana’s Wrath and the Debate on Destiny vs Human Effort
यद्ययं किल्बिषाद्भेदः कृतोऽप्येवं न गृह्यते।जायते तत्र मे दुःखं धर्मसङ्गश्च गर्हितः।।।।
yady ayaṃ kilbiṣād bhedaḥ kṛto ’py evaṃ na gṛhyate | jāyate tatra me duḥkhaṃ dharma-saṅgaś ca garhitaḥ ||
ਜੇ ਪਾਪ ਤੋਂ ਜੰਮਿਆ ਇਹ ਧੋਖੇਭਰਾ ਭੰਗ ਕਰ ਕੇ ਵੀ ਉਸ ਨੂੰ ਜਿਵੇਂ ਦਾ ਤਿਵੇਂ ਮੰਨਿਆ ਨਹੀਂ ਜਾਂਦਾ, ਤਾਂ ਮੇਰੇ ਮਨ ਵਿੱਚ ਦੁੱਖ ਉੱਠਦਾ ਹੈ; ਅਤੇ ‘ਧਰਮ’ ਨਾਲ ਇਹ ਚਿਮੜਿਆ ਰਹਿਣਾ ਵੀ ਨਿੰਦਣਯ ਬਣ ਜਾਂਦਾ ਹੈ।
I am grieved that even though this plot has been hatched by a treacherous mind, you are not taking it in the right perspective. Censurable is adherence to virtue.
FAQs
Dharma requires discernment (viveka): if wrongdoing is not acknowledged, then ‘virtue’ becomes complicity—attachment to duty without moral clarity is censured.
Lakṣmaṇa laments that the scheme against Rāma is not being treated as treachery, because Rāma continues to interpret events through strict duty.
Moral clarity and intolerance for injustice—Lakṣmaṇa insists that truth about wrongdoing must be named.
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