Valmiki Ramayana 2.53.10: Ayodhya Kanda, Sarga 53, Shloka 10
पञ्चाशत्तमः सर्गः (Sarga 53): Rāma’s Lament, Vigil for Sītā, and Lakṣmaṇa’s Consolation
Spoken by Rama to LakṣmaṇaSetting: forest halt (continuing exile context)Paused discourse during journey/encampment
को ह्यविद्वानपि पुमान् प्रमदायाः कृते त्यजेत् ।
छन्दानुवर्तिनं पुत्रं तातो मामिव लक्ष्मण ॥१०॥
ko hy avidvān api pumān pramadāyāḥ kṛte tyajet |
chandānuvartinaṃ putraṃ tāto mām iva lakṣmaṇa ||10||
โอ้พระลักษมณ์ ชายใดเล่า—even หากไร้ความรู้—จะทอดทิ้งบุตรผู้เชื่อฟังเช่นเรา เพราะเหตุแห่งสตรี ดังที่พระบิดาของเราได้ทรงกระทำ?
Sandhi Notes
- को ह्य = कः + हि
- अविद्वानपि = अविद्वान् + अपि
- प्रमदायाः कृते = प्रमदायाः + कृते
- छन्दानुवर्तिनं = छन्द + अनुवर्तिनम्
- मामिव = माम् + इव
O Lakshmana, will even an illiterate man for the sake of a woman ever abandon his son like me who is faithful and obedient, as did my father?
The teaching
When vows are made without foresight, dharma can become a snare; yet the noble still uphold the word, bearing suffering without collapsing into adharma.
Duties in tension
- Daśaratha’s duty to uphold truth/boon (satya-vrata)
- Daśaratha’s duty to protect and install the righteous heir (pitṛ-dharma/raja-dharma)
- Rama’s duty to honor father’s word vs personal injustice
- Ethical theme
- Satya vs pitṛ-dharma / rāja-dharma
- How it resolves
- Tragic-compromise (truth upheld at cost of familial harmony)
For your practice
Supports contemplation on endurance and restraint: even the righteous feel pain, yet do not abandon dharma; useful for kṣānti (forbearance) practice.
Mood and themes
- Rasa
- Karuna (compassion), with Raudra (fury)
- Mood
- Wounded, bewildered, accusatory
Themes
- Dharma
- Satya
- Family duty
- Royal ethics
- Grief
- Itihasa
- Ethics
The verse dramatizes how attachment and desire can eclipse viveka; the ‘abandonment’ is read as the triumph of rajas over discernment.
Echo of the theme that the unsteady mind, driven by desire, leads one away from the good (śreyas) toward the merely pleasant (preyas) (conceptual echo).
- Rama and Lakshmana
- Confidant dialogue; Rama seeks empathetic witness to grievance (pained-trusting)
- Rama and Dasharatha
- Father-son; perceived abandonment under influence (hurt)
- Dasharatha and Kaikeyi
- Husband influenced by wife; decision shaped by her demand (conflicted)
- Rama and Kaikeyi
- Stepmother as cause of exile; grievance without direct confrontation here (resentful)
Mahābhārata: motifs of kings swayed by desire leading to exile/strife (e.g., Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s partiality—broad thematic parallel); Rāmacaritamānasa: Kaikeyī’s boons and Rama’s exile lament (parallel episode)
Dharmaśāstra discourse on putra as support of lineage and rites; king’s duty to protect righteous heir
Ayodhya-kanda: Daśaratha bound by boons to Kaikeyī (2.12–2.14 thematic background); Rama’s earlier acceptance of exile vs later private pain (2.18–2.20 vs 2.53 discourse)
Anuṣṭup
Grieving
Tāra (high register)
FAQs
The verse questions a lapse in discernment: dharma requires reasoned judgment not to sacrifice rightful duty and familial responsibility under overpowering attachment.
Rāma, pained by exile, speaks candidly to Lakṣmaṇa about being forsaken by his father under Kaikeyī’s influence.
Rāma’s frankness and moral clarity—he articulates the ethical problem even while personally suffering.
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