Valmiki Ramayana 2.116.6: Ayodhya Kanda, Sarga 116, Shloka 6
तपस्विनाम् औत्सुक्यं राक्षसत्रासश्च
Ascetics’ Anxiety and the Fear of Rakshasas
Spoken by Rama to kulapatiSetting: Forest hermitage (āśrama)Exile-journey; assessing possible cause of sages’ agitation
प्रमादाच्चरितं कच्चित्किञ्चिन्नावरजस्य मे ।
लक्ष्मणस्यर्षिभिदृष्टं नानुरूपमिवात्मनः ॥६॥
pramādāc caritaṃ kaccit kiñcin nāvarajasya me |
lakṣmaṇasya ṛṣibhir dṛṣṭaṃ nānurūpam ivātmanaḥ ||6||
లేదా నా అనుజుడు లక్ష్మణుడు అజాగ్రత్తవశాత్తు ఏదైనా చేసి, ఋషులు దానిని అతనికి అనుచితమని చూశారా?
Sandhi Notes
- प्रमादाच्चरितम् = प्रमादात् + चरितम्
- किञ्चिन्नावरजस्य = किञ्चित् + न + अवरजस्य
- लक्ष्मणस्यर्षिभिः = लक्ष्मणस्य + ऋषिभिः
- ऋषिभिदृष्टम् = ऋषिभिः + दृष्टम्
- नानुरूपम् = न + अनुरूपम्
- इवात्मनः = इव + आत्मनः
Have the sages found my younger brother Lakshmana doing something unbecoming of him through inadvertence?
The teaching
Even the devoted can err through pramāda; dharma is preserved by vigilance and readiness to accept guidance.
Duties in tension
- Fraternal loyalty/protection vs impartial acknowledgment of possible fault
- Kṣatriya assertiveness vs deference to ascetic norms
- Ethical theme
- Apramāda / familial responsibility
- How it resolves
- Preemptive accountability and request for correction
For your practice
Cultivate apramāda in speech and action, especially in sacred spaces and among elders.
Mood and themes
- Rasa
- Shanta (peace), with Bhayanaka (fear)
- Mood
- Protective, self-effacing, uneasy
Themes
- Dharma
- Satya
- Fraternal responsibility
- Discipline
- Hermitage decorum
- Ethics
Pramāda as avidyā’s expression—carelessness veils discrimination; vigilance (apramāda) is a sādhanā.
Aparamāda praised as a path to the good (echoing the broader śruti valuation of apramāda).
- Rama and Lakshmana
- Elder brother protective oversight; concern for younger’s inadvertent lapse (concerned)
- Lakshmana and Rishis
- Lay-kṣatriya in proximity to sages; possibility of offense (wary)
Mahābhārata: repeated warnings that pramāda leads to downfall (thematic parallel); Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa: Lakṣmaṇa’s intense protectiveness sometimes bordering on sharpness; need for restraint before elders (motif-parallel)
Dharmic literature emphasizing apramāda (carefulness) as ethical foundation
Rāma’s consistent guardianship over Lakṣmaṇa’s conduct in public/holy settings (contextual)
Anuṣṭup (śloka)
Solemn
Madhya, slightly urgent cadence
FAQs
Dharma includes responsibility for one’s companions: Rāma considers whether anyone close to him has violated āśrama norms, since group conduct affects communal trust.
Rāma tries to identify the cause of the sages’ unease and asks whether Lakṣmaṇa may have inadvertently acted improperly.
Rāma’s conscientious leadership—he does not excuse his party, and he seeks accountability without hostility.
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