Valmiki Ramayana 2.36.6: Ayodhya Kanda, Sarga 36, Shloka 6
अयोध्याकाण्डे षट्त्रिंशः सर्गः · Daśaratha’s orders for Rama’s escort; Kaikeyi’s fear; the Asamañjasa precedent
Spoken by KaikeyiSetting: Projected: Daṇḍaka/forest wilderness (generic āraṇya)Places named: āraṇya, nadīḥ (various rivers)Imagined life-in-forest during exile
निघ्नन् मृगान् कुञ्जरांश्च पिबंश्चारण्यकं मधु ।
नदीश्च विविधाः पश्यन्न राज्यस्य स्मरिष्यति ॥६॥
nighnan mṛgān kuñjarāṃś ca pibaṃś cāraṇyakaṃ madhu |
nadīś ca vividhāḥ paśyann rājyasya smariṣyati ||6||
మృగాలను, గజాలను సంహరిస్తూ, అరణ్యమధువును పానంచేస్తూ, నానావిధ నదులను దర్శిస్తూ—అతడు రాజ్యాన్ని కూడా స్మరించడు.
Sandhi Notes
- dhānyakośaśca = dhānya-kośaḥ + ca
- kaściddhana- = kaścit + dhana-
- dhanakośaśca = dhana-kośaḥ + ca
- rāmamanugacchetām = rāmam + anugacchetām.
Hunting the elephants and antelopes, drinking forest honey, beholding several rivers on the way, Rama will not recollect the kingdom.
The teaching
Detachment is not merely forgetting one object by clinging to another; dharma asks for inner steadiness beyond changing enjoyments.
Duties in tension
- Kṣatriya survival/hunting vs ahiṃsā ideal
- Renunciation of rājya vs enjoyment of alternate forest pleasures
- Ethical theme
- Vairāgya-viveka (discernment about renunciation)
- How it resolves
- Rationalization of exile (psychological reframing)
For your practice
Reflection on true vairāgya: replacing pleasures is not liberation; cultivate non-attachment.
Mood and themes
- Rasa
- Adbhuta (wonder), with Vira (heroism)
- Mood
- Wild, free, forgetful
Themes
- Dharma
- Satya
- Renunciation
- Kingship
- Exile (Vanavāsa)
- Ethics
- Itihasa
Sense-objects can replace one another; true freedom is not mere substitution of pleasures but non-attachment—this verse ironically shows bhoga-shift rather than tyāga.
Forest as locus of āraṇyaka/upaniṣadic contemplation, though here framed through enjoyment and hunting.
- Kaikeyi and Rama
- Speaks about his future delight in forest; rationalizing exile (dismissive)
- Rama and Forest
- Ascetic landscape as refuge/testing ground (harmonious)
- Rama and Kingdom
- Renounced sovereignty; memory severed (detached)
Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa Araṇyakāṇḍa descriptions of forest life and rivers; Mahābhārata Vana-parvan (forest life motifs: hunting, rivers, honey)
Āraṇyaka literature setting (forest) as a traditional space of transition from ritual to contemplation
Ayodhyākāṇḍa later: Rāma’s actual forest conduct contrasts with this portrayal (more restrained, dharmic)
Anuṣṭup
Narrative
Flowing, descriptive svara with soft elongation on "नदीश्च"
FAQs
The verse frames exile as a mode of life where worldly power (rājya) becomes secondary; dharma here is the discipline of detachment and acceptance of one’s ordained path, even when it replaces royal privilege.
In the lead-up to Rāma’s departure to the forest, Kaikeyī speaks as if the forest will fully occupy Rāma’s mind, making him forget the comforts and claims of kingship.
Rāma’s capacity for renunciation and adaptability—his ability to live according to dharma in hardship without clinging to royal identity.
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