Valmiki Ramayana 2.112.22: Ayodhya Kanda, Sarga 112, Shloka 22
पादुकाप्रदानम्
The Gift of the Sandals and Delegated Kingship
Setting: Chitrakuta (near the Mandakini)Completion of Bharata’s mission: receiving pādukā to return toward Ayodhya/Nandigrāma
सोऽधिरुह्य नरव्याघ्रः पादुके ह्यवरुह्य च ।
प्रायच्छत्सुमहातेजा भरताय महात्मने ॥२२॥
so ’dhiruhya naravyāghraḥ pāduke hy avaruhya ca |
prāyacchat sumahātejā bharatāya mahātmane ||22||
Rama, tygrys wśród ludzi i jaśniejący wielką chwałą, wstąpił na sandały i zszedł z nich; następnie podarował je wielkodusznemu Bharacie.
Sandhi Notes
- so 'dhiruhya: सः + अधिरुह्य
- pāduke hy avaruhya: पादुके + हि + अवरुह्य
- prāyacchat sumahātejā: प्रायच्छत् + सुमहातेजाः
Rama, the best of men, one with great brilliance, put on and then put off the sandals and presented them to the magnanimous Bharata.
The teaching
Dharma can be upheld through wise delegation: symbols and trusteeship preserve legitimacy while vows remain intact.
Duties in tension
- Rama’s duty to keep exile vow vs duty to ensure orderly governance
- Bharata’s duty to serve the kingdom vs personal desire to avoid kingship
- Ethical theme
- Rāja-dharma / niṣkāma-sevā
- How it resolves
- Proxy rule through consecrated symbol (pādukā)
Devotion and practice
Pratīka-bhakti: keeping a sacred symbol as focus for remembrance; encourages humility and service-oriented leadership.
- Deity praised
- Rama (through sanctified pādukā)
- Form of praise
- Vandana (pāda-sevā centered)
Mood and themes
- Rasa
- Shanta (peace), with Adbhuta (wonder)
- Mood
- Consecrated, humble, assured
Themes
- Dharma
- Maryada
- Itihasa
- Ethics
- Satya
- Rajadharma
- Tyaga
Action without appropriation (niṣkāma karma): Rama performs the consecrating act yet remains unattached to throne; Bharata acts without ego as instrument.
Karma-yoga spirit akin to ‘tena tyaktena bhuñjīthāḥ’ (Īśā) in the sense of stewardship without possession.
- Rama and Bharata
- Elder brother conferring symbolic authority; younger receiving as trustee (solemn)
- Rama and Pādukā
- Pāda-sambandha sanctifying the symbol (consecratory)
Rāmacaritamānasa: pādukā-pradāna and Bharata’s return to Nandigrāma
Iconic Indian political-theological motif: rule by dharma-symbol rather than personal power
Ayodhyākāṇḍa: Bharata installing pādukā on the throne and living ascetically at Nandigrāma
Anuṣṭup (śloka)
Solemn
Measured cadence with clear caesura at ‘अवरुह्य च’
FAQs
Authority is transferred not through ambition but through righteous delegation: Rama enables Bharata to administer the kingdom as a trustee, preserving legitimacy and truth.
Rama consents to Bharata’s request by stepping on the sandals and formally handing them over, creating a symbolic regency.
Rama’s adherence to satya and dharma—he supports Bharata’s dharmic plan without breaking his own exile vow.
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