Shloka 44
Sāvitrī’s Report and Nārada’s Prognosis (सावित्र्याख्यान—सत्यवान्-गुणवर्णनं तथा अल्पायुषः पूर्वसूचना)
दूषणं च खरं चैव निहत्य सुमहाबलौ । चक्रे क्षेमं पुनर्थीमान् धर्मारण्यं स राघव:
dūṣaṇaṁ ca kharaṁ caiva nihatya sumahābalau | cakre kṣemaṁ punar dhīmān dharmāraṇyaṁ sa rāghavaḥ ||
दूषणं च खरं चैव निहत्य सुमहाबलौ । चक्रे क्षेमं पुनर्धीमान् धर्मारण्यं स राघवः ॥
(श्रीरम उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames force as ethically legitimate when used to protect the innocent and to restore a space where dharma—especially the life of tapas and restraint—can flourish. Rāma’s action is presented not as conquest but as re-establishing kṣema (security) and dharmic order.
Śrī Rāma (Rāghava) defeats and kills the powerful rākṣasas Khara and Dūṣaṇa, after which he makes the forest safe again, turning it back into a ‘Dharmāraṇya’—a place where sages can live and practice without harassment.