Valmiki Ramayana 2.24.5: Ayodhya Kanda, Sarga 24, Shloka 5

कौशल्यारामसंवादः · Kausalya

Rama Dialogue on Exile-Dharma

Spoken by Kausalya to RamaSetting: AyodhyaPlaces named: vana (forest)Impending departure toward Dandaka forest exile

Devanagari script

नूनं तु बलवान् लोके कृतान्तस्सर्वमादिशन् ।

लोके रामाभिरामस्त्वं वनं यत्र गमिष्यसि ॥५॥

Recitation with translationValmiki Ramayana 2.24.5

Transliteration

nūnaṃ tu balavān loke kṛtāntaḥ sarvam ādiśan |

loke rāmābhirāmas tvaṃ vanaṃ yatra gamiṣyasi ||5||

Translation

Zaprawdę, przeznaczenie jest potężne na tym świecie i włada wszystkim - skoro nawet ty, Rama, radości świata, zostajesz posłany do lasu.

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Word by Word

• nūnam: certainly
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: nūnam (अव्यय)
• Form: निश्चय-अव्यय (adverb of certainty)
• Role: Kriyāviśeṣaṇa (क्रियाविशेषणम्)

• tu: indeed/but
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tu (अव्यय)
• Form: निपात
• Role: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)

• balavān: powerful
• Type: Adjective
• Root: balavat (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; विशेषणम्
• Role: Karta (कर्ता)

• loke: in the world
• Type: Noun
• Root: loka (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी-विभक्ति, एकवचन
• Role: Adhikaraṇa (अधिकरण)

• kṛtāntaḥ: fate/death (destiny)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kṛtānta (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन
• Role: Karta (कर्ता)

• sarvam: everything
• Type: Noun
• Root: sarva (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन
• Role: Karma (कर्म)

• ādiśan: commanding
• Type: Verb
• Root: ā-diś (धातु)
• Form: शतृ-प्रत्ययान्त (present active participle), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; अर्थ: ‘ordering/commanding’
• Role: Karta (कर्ता)

• loke: in the world
• Type: Noun
• Root: loka (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी-विभक्ति, एकवचन
• Role: Adhikaraṇa (अधिकरण)

• rāmābhirāmaḥ: Rama, delight of the world
• Type: Noun
• Root: rāma (प्रातिपदिक) + abhirāma (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः: rāmāṇām abhirāmaḥ / ‘delightful like Rama’ (epithet)
• Role: Karta (कर्ता)
• Compound: Tatpurusha

• tvam: you
• Type: Noun
• Root: yusmad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: मध्यमपुरुष-सर्वनाम, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन
• Role: Karta (कर्ता)

• vanam: to the forest
• Type: Noun
• Root: vana (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन
• Role: Karma (कर्म)

• yatra: where
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: yatra (अव्यय)
• Form: सम्बन्ध/देश-अव्यय (relative adverb: where)
• Role: Adhikaraṇa (अधिकरण)

• gamiṣyasi: you will go
• Type: Verb
• Root: gam (धातु)
• Form: लृट्-लकार (Simple Future), परस्मैपद, मध्यमपुरुष, एकवचन
• Role: Kriyā (क्रिया)

Sandhi Notes

• कृतान्तस्सर्वम् = kṛtāntaḥ sarvam
• रामाभिरामस्त्वं = rāmābhirāmaḥ tvam

Context

O Rama! if you, being the delight of the world, are (ordered) to go to the forest, ithas to be said certainly that destiny which rules everything is all-powerful.

The teaching

Even the most beloved is not exempt from kāla; steadfastness in dharma is tested under the pressure of fate.

Duties in tension

• Rama’s rājadharma/obedience to father’s word vs Kaushalya’s mātṛdharma of protection and keeping the son near
• Public order and vow-keeping vs private maternal attachment

Ethical theme

Dharma vs moha (attachment)

How it resolves

Submission to daiva framed through acceptance of dharma

For your practice

Contemplation on kāla/niyati and cultivating equanimity while upholding dharma.

Mood and themes

Rasa

Karuna (compassion), with Shanta (peace)

Mood

Fateful, aching, resigned

Themes

• Dharma
• Satya
• Itihasa
• Ethics
• Daiva (fate) vs Puruṣakāra (human effort)

Symbolism

Relationships

Cross references

Meter and recitation

Characters & Entities

• Kausalyā
• Rāma
• Kṛtānta (Fate/Destiny)

FAQs

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

It points to the tension between dharma and suffering: even the righteous may endure hardship. The verse frames exile not as moral failure but as a turn of destiny within the larger moral universe.

What is the narrative situation?

Kausalyā, overwhelmed, interprets Rāma’s exile as evidence of fate’s overwhelming force.

Which character virtue is emphasized?

Rāma as ‘lokābhirāma’—one who brings joy and order to society—making his removal from Ayodhyā feel cosmically disruptive.