Valmiki Ramayana 2.9.28: Ayodhya Kanda, Sarga 9, Shloka 28
मन्थराप्रेरणा · वरद्वय-स्मरणं च
Manthara’s Provocation and the Recalling of Two Boons
Spoken by Manthara to KaikeyiSetting: Ayodhyā (present); past event in battlefield (alluded)Places named: Ayodhyā (implied), battlefield of deva-asura war (alluded)
यौ तौ दैवासुरे युद्धे वरौ दशरथोऽददात् ।
तौ स्मारय महाभागे सोऽर्थो न त्वामतिक्रमेत् ॥२८॥
yau tau daivāsure yuddhe varau daśaratho ’dadāt |
tau smāraya mahābhāge so ’rtho na tvām atikramet ||28||
O bardzo szczęśliwa królowo, przypomnij mu o dwóch łaskach, które Daśaratha nadał ci podczas wojny między bogami a demonami, aby twój cel nie umknął cię.
Sandhi Notes
- दशरथोऽददात् → दशरथः + अददात् (ः + अ → ओऽ)
- सोऽर्थो → सः + अर्थः (ः + अ → ओऽ)
- त्वामतिक्रमेत् → त्वाम् + अतिक्रमेत्
O fortunate Kaikeyi, make him recollect the two boons he had granted you in the war between gods and demons. You should not ignore your objective.
The teaching
Rights gained by merit can still be misused; dharma judges not only entitlement but intention and consequence.
Duties in tension
- Honoring earned boons (satya) vs. using them for adharma (harm to rightful heir)
- Gratitude for past service vs. present envy-driven political maneuver
- Ethical theme
- Satya/vara-dharma vs. adharma-prayoga
- How it resolves
- Instrumental invocation of legitimate promise
For your practice
Contemplate how past merits should be directed toward welfare (lokasaṅgraha), not personal spite.
Mood and themes
- Rasa
- Vira (heroism), with Raudra (fury)
- Mood
- Urgent, strategic, fateful
Themes
- Dharma
- Satya
- Boons and vows
- Ethics
- Political intrigue
Past action (karma) ripens as present leverage; memory (smṛti) becomes a causal force shaping events.
General echo: smṛti/saṅkalpa shaping destiny; not a direct quotation.
Daiva-asura yuddha (mythic cosmic battle) alluded
- Manthara and Kaikeyi
- Strategist prompting queen to invoke boons (urgent, empowering manipulation)
- Kaikeyi and Dasharatha
- Wife invoking past promise/boons from husband (claiming entitlement (implied)). King as boon-giver bound by prior grant (obligated (implied))
- Devas and Asuras
- Cosmic war (background) (hostile conflict (alluded))
Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.9–2.10 (boons recalled and demanded)
Purāṇic accounts of deva-asura conflicts where boons and vows decide outcomes (general)
Ayodhyākāṇḍa: narration of Kaikeyī’s service in battle and receipt of two boons (context around 2.9–2.10)
Anuṣṭup (śloka)
Commanding-narrative
Raised pitch on 'smāraya' to mark imperative
FAQs
It points to the binding force of promises/boons (satya as keeping one’s word), even though the demand to be made later will be ethically problematic.
Mantharā instructs Kaikeyī to leverage Daśaratha’s earlier promise of two boons as a decisive instrument to alter the succession.
Daśaratha’s virtue implied here is truthfulness—his commitment to boons given—making him vulnerable to exploitation.
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