Valmiki Ramayana 2.9.63: Ayodhya Kanda, Sarga 9, Shloka 63
मन्थराप्रेरणा · वरद्वय-स्मरणं च
Manthara’s Provocation and the Recalling of Two Boons
Spoken by Kaikeyi to MantharaSetting: Ayodhya (inner palace)Places named: vana (forest), Yama’s realm (metaphysical)Foreshadowed: Rama’s exile to forest (vana-gamana)
यमस्य वा मां विषयं गतामितो निशाम्य कुब्जे प्रतिवेदयिष्यसि ।
वनं गते वा सुचिराय राघवे समृद्धकामो भरतो भविष्यति ॥६३॥
yamasya vā māṃ viṣayaṃ gatām ito niśāmya kubje prative-dayiṣyasi |
vanaṃ gate vā sucirāya rāghave samṛddhakāmo bharato bhaviṣyati ||63||
ఓ కుబ్జే! నేను ఇక్కడి నుండి యమలోకానికి వెళ్లినదాన్ని నీవు చూచినచో, అది వెళ్లి తెలియజేయు. లేక రాఘవుడు దీర్ఘకాలం వనానికి వెళ్లినచో, భరతుని కోరిక సంపూర్ణంగా నెరవేరుతుంది.
Sandhi Notes
- māṅ→mām (anusvāra before v)
- gatāmito→gatām ito
- itoniśāmya→ito niśāmya
- kubjē! prativēdayiṣyasi→kubje prativedayiṣyasi
- rāghavēsamṛddhakāmō→rāghave samṛddhakāmaḥ
- bharatō→bharataḥ
Tell the king that he will see either the fulfilment of Bharata's desire after Rama is banished into the forest for a long period or me gone to Yama's abode.
The teaching
When desire seeks fulfillment through another’s banishment, it turns into himsā of the heart and polity.
Duties in tension
- Truth and fairness in succession vs manipulation through threats
- Maternal attachment vs duty to protect the righteous heir
- Non-violence of intent vs willingness to cause ruin
- Ethical theme
- Rājadharma / adharma through coercion
For your practice
Reflection on mṛtyu and impermanence to dissolve coercive craving rather than weaponize it.
Mood and themes
- Rasa
- Bhayanaka (fear), with Raudra (fury)
- Mood
- Grim, menacing, resolute
Themes
- Dharma
- Satya
- Itihasa
- Ethics
Choosing death or exile as bargaining reveals bondage to desire; true tyāga is desireless, not coercive.
Yama as the archetypal teacher of mortality (echo of Kaṭha motif), here inverted into a threat rather than inquiry.
- Kaikeyi and Manthara
- Queen confiding extreme resolve to instigator (grim complicity)
- Kaikeyi and Rama
- Stepmother–stepson; threat of exile/death-wish rhetoric (hostile)
- Kaikeyi and Yama
- Death invoked as witness/endpoint (fatalistic)
- Bharata and Rama
- Brothers; benefit from Rama’s removal implied (instrumentalized rivalry)
- Bharata and Kaikeyi
- Mother–son; promised fulfillment (ambitious/protective)
Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.10 (Kaikeyī’s ultimatum to Daśaratha); Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.18-2.20 (Rama accepts exile; Bharata’s later refusal of kingdom)
Kaṭha Upaniṣad: Yama as lord of death (conceptual echo)
Ayodhyākāṇḍa: exile as pivotal device leading to Araṇyakāṇḍa events
Anuṣṭup (śloka)
Solemn (threatening)
Lower register; sustained svara on 'Yamasya' and 'vanaṃ gate'
FAQs
It frames a morally charged choice where personal desire (Bharata’s ‘fulfilment’) is set against the righteous order (dharma) embodied by Rāma’s rightful place; the verse highlights how adharma can be pursued through exile and harm.
Kaikeyī speaks as if the outcome is inevitable—either her own death or Rāma’s long exile—using stark ‘either/or’ language to assert a grim certainty; the ethical issue is that this ‘truth-claim’ is used to justify an unjust aim.
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