Valmiki Ramayana 2.69.11-13: Ayodhya Kanda, Sarga 69, Shlokas 11-13
भरतस्य दुःस्वप्नदर्शनम् · Bharata’s Ominous Dream
Spoken by BharataPlaces named: sāgara (sea)Dream-vision (svapna) of cosmic catastrophe
स्वप्नेऽपि सागरं शुष्कं चन्द्रं च पतितं भवि ।
उपरुद्धां च जगतीं तमसेव समावृताम् ॥११॥
औपवाह्यस्य नागस्य विषाणं शकलीकृतम् ।
सहसाचापि संशान्तं ज्वलितं जातवेदसम् ॥१२॥
अवतीर्णां च पृथिवीं शुष्कां श्च विविधान् द्रुमान् ।
अहं पश्यामि विध्वस्तान् सधूमांश्चापि पर्वतान् ॥१३॥
svapne 'pi sāgaraṃ śuṣkaṃ candraṃ ca patitaṃ bhuvi |
uparuddhāṃ ca jagatīṃ tamaseva samāvṛtām ||11||
aupavāhyasya nāgasya viṣāṇaṃ śakalīkṛtam |
sahasā cāpi saṃśāntaṃ jvalitaṃ jātavedasam ||12||
avatīrṇāṃ ca pṛthivīṃ śuṣkāṃś ca vividhān drumān |
ahaṃ paśyāmi vidhvastān sa-dhūmāṃś cāpi parvatān ||13||
స్వప్నంలో కూడా నేను సముద్రం ఎండిపోయినదిగా, చంద్రుడు భూమిపై పడిపోయినదిగా చూశాను; లోకం అంతా రుద్ధమై చీకటితో కప్పబడినట్లు కనిపించింది। రాజవాహన ఏనుగు దంతం ముక్కలైపోయినదిగా, జ్వలిస్తున్న అగ్ని అకస్మాత్తుగా ఆరిపోయినదిగా చూశాను। భూమి చీలి దిగజారినదిగా, అనేక రకాల వృక్షాలు ఎండిపోయినదిగా, పర్వతాలు ధ్వంసమై పొగతో కమ్ముకున్నదిగా కూడా నేను చూశాను।
Sandhi Notes
- svapne’pi = svapne + api
- tamaseva = tamasā + iva (common euphonic contraction in recensions)
- sahasācāpi = sahasā + ca + api
- śuṣkāṃśca = śuṣkān + ca
- sadhūmāṃścāpi = sa-dhūmān + ca + api
In that dream I beheld the sea being dried up and the Moon fallen onto the ground. I saw the earth as though enveloped by darkness and obscured, the tusk of an elephant worthy of a ride by the monarch broken into pieces, a blazing fire extinguished suddenly, the earth split open, various trees dried up and mountains crumbled and covered with smoke.
The teaching
When the moral-political center collapses, the world can feel unmoored; dharma requires steadiness and right action even amid perceived cosmic disorder.
- Ethical theme
- Nimitta-jñāna / resilience in crisis
For your practice
Use fear of disorder to deepen śaraṇāgati (seeking refuge) and cultivate inner light when outer ‘lights’ (moon/fire) seem to fail.
Mood and themes
- Rasa
- Bhayanaka (fear), with Adbhuta (wonder)
- Mood
- Apocalyptic, stifling, uncanny
Themes
- Itihāsa
- Omens
- Dharma
- Satya
- Foreboding
- Cosmic disorder
Cosmic collapse imagery points to the unreliability of phenomenal order (jagat as changing appearance); when the ‘support’ (king/father) falls, the mind experiences the world as disintegrating—an experiential pointer to vairāgya.
Imagery of darkness enveloping the world recalls tamas motifs; the ‘fallen moon’ and ‘extinguished fire’ invert the usual symbols of consciousness and prāṇa—echoing Upaniṣadic use of light/fire as knowledge, here shown as withdrawn.
Rātri
Apocalyptic omens in dream: moon fallen, sea dried, darkness covering earth, fire extinguished
- Bharata and Dasharatha
- Son senses father’s impending loss through cosmic signs (anguished)
Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.69 (extended svapna-nimitta catalogue); Mahābhārata: dream/omen catalogues before great deaths (general parallel); Rāmacaritamānasa: portents and cosmic sympathy around royal calamity (thematic parallel)
Vedic symbolism of Agni (Jātavedas) as life/ritual order; its extinguishing as collapse of ṛta (thematic)
Ayodhyākāṇḍa: Daśaratha’s death; ensuing political-ethical crisis and Bharata’s refusal of kingship
Mixed: predominantly Anuṣṭup śloka units with extended descriptive sequence (dream-catalog style)
Grieving
Slow, weighty; descending cadences on each catastrophe; brief lift on ‘sahasā’ then drop on ‘saṃśāntam’
FAQs
The imagery portrays a world out of joint—symbolizing that when dharma is violated at the center of the kingdom, nature and society appear to collapse; it presses the need to restore truth and righteous order.
Bharata’s dream intensifies with cosmic and royal symbols (moon, sea, elephant, fire) turning inauspicious, foreshadowing Daśaratha’s death and the rupture in Ayodhyā.
Truth-oriented discernment—Bharata is prepared (psychologically and ethically) to confront painful realities and act to re-establish righteousness.
Ask anything about this verse
Answers come straight from the texts, with the shlokas they draw on. Ask in your own words.
A free sign-in with Google or Apple keeps your chat saved across web and the app.
Read Valmiki Ramayana in the Vedapath app
Scan the QR code to open this directly in the app, with word-by-word meanings, Sanskrit recitation where available, and more.
