Shloka 74
गोदावरीतटे सीतान्वेषणम्
The Search for Sītā at the Godāvarī
यथा जरा यथा मृत्युर्यथा कालो यथा विधिः।नित्यं न प्रतिहन्यन्ते सर्वभूतेषु लक्ष्मण।।।।तथाहं क्रोधसंयुक्तो न निवार्योऽस्मि सर्वथा।
yathā jarā yathā mṛtyur yathā kālo yathā vidhiḥ |
nityaṃ na pratihanyante sarvabhūteṣu lakṣmaṇa ||
tathāhaṃ krodha-saṃyukto na nivāryo ’smi sarvathā ||
यथा जरा यथा मृत्युः यथा कालो यथा विधिः सर्वभूतेषु नित्यं न प्रतिहन्यन्ते, तथा लक्ष्मण क्रोधसंयुक्तोऽहं सर्वथा न निवार्योऽस्मि।
Just as all beings in this world cannot avoid age and death, or defy time and fate so also none can prevent me at all when I am angry, O Lakshmana !
FAQs
The verse highlights inevitability (kāla/vidhi) and warns of the destructive power of krodha; dharma calls for self-restraint, because anger—if indulged—overrides discernment and harms righteous action.
In the anguish after Sītā’s abduction, Rāma’s grief turns into fierce anger; he tells Lakṣmaṇa that, like time and death, his wrath is presently unstoppable.
By contrast, the virtue implied is self-control (dama/kṣamā); Lakṣmaṇa is positioned as the steady counselor who must help Rāma return from anger to dharmic resolve.