Valmiki Ramayana 2.58.6: Ayodhya Kanda, Sarga 58, Shloka 6

अष्टपञ्चाशः सर्गः (Sarga 58): Daśaratha Questions Sumantra; Messages from the Forest Threshold

Devanagari script

दुःखस्यानुचितो दुःखं सुमन्त्र शयनोचितः ।

भूमिपालात्मजो भूमौ शेते कथमनाथवत् ॥६॥

Recitation with translationValmiki Ramayana 2.58.6

Transliteration

duḥkhasyānucito duḥkhaṃ sumantra śayanocitaḥ |

bhūmipālātmajo bhūmau śete katham anāthavat ||6||

Translation

“โอสุมนตรา เขามิสมควรแก่ความทุกข์ และเคยชินกับที่บรรทมอันสมควร ไฉนโอรสแห่งผู้พิทักษ์แผ่นดินจึงจะนอนบนพื้นดินเปล่า ดุจผู้ไร้ที่พึ่งได้เล่า?”

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Word by Word

• duḥkhasya: of sorrow
• duḥkhasya: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/Genitive relation)
• Type: Noun
• Root: duḥkha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Napuṃsakaliṅga, Ṣaṣṭhī-vibhakti (Genitive/6th), Ekavacana

• anucitaḥ: not fit/undeserving
• anucitaḥ: Karta (कर्ता-viśeṣaṇa)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: an-ucita (कृदन्त/PPP of √ci ‘to befit’ with prefix)
• Form: Puṃliṅga, Prathamā, Ekavacana; predicate adjective of bhūmipālātmajaḥ

• duḥkham: sorrow
• duḥkham: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: duḥkha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Napuṃsakaliṅga, Dvitīyā (Acc/2nd), Ekavacana

• sumantra: O Sumantra
• sumantra: Sambodhana (सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: sumantra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Puṃliṅga, Sambodhana (Vocative), Ekavacana

• śayana-ucitaḥ: accustomed/fit for a bed
• śayana-ucitaḥ: Karta (कर्ता-viśeṣaṇa)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: śayana (प्रातिपदिक) + ucita (कृदन्त/PPP of √ci)
• Form: Samāsa: tatpuruṣa (‘fit for a bed/couch’); Puṃliṅga, Prathamā, Ekavacana; viśeṣaṇa of bhūmipālātmajaḥ

• bhūmipāla-ātmajaḥ: the king’s son
• bhūmipāla-ātmajaḥ: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: bhūmi (प्रातिपदिक) + pāla (प्रातिपदिक) + ātmaja (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Samāsa: tatpuruṣa (‘son of the earth-protector/king’); Puṃliṅga, Prathamā, Ekavacana

• bhūmau: on the ground
• bhūmau: Adhikaraṇa (अधिकरण/Location)
• Type: Noun
• Root: bhūmi (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Strīliṅga (Feminine), Saptamī-vibhakti (Locative/7th), Ekavacana

• śete: lies/sleeps
• śete: Kriyā (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √śī (धातु)
• Form: Laṭ-lakāra (Present), Prathama-puruṣa (3rd), Ekavacana, Ātmanepada

• katham: how
• katham: Kriyā-viśeṣaṇa (क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: katham (अव्यय)
• Form: Avyaya; interrogative adverb (manner)

• anāthavat: like an orphan
• anāthavat: Kriyā-viśeṣaṇa (क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: anātha (प्रातिपदिक) + vat (तद्धित)
• Form: Avyaya (adverbial -vat: ‘like’), manner-adverb qualifying śete

Context

How can the son of the guardian of the earth who is accustomed to a comfortable bed and not to undeserved suffering lie down on the ground like an orphan, O Sumantra

Characters & Entities

• Dasharatha
• Sumantra
• Rama

FAQs

What is the core ethical principle (Dharma) in this verse?

The verse highlights the tension between royal comfort and dharmic renunciation: dharma may demand that even a prince accept austerity.

What is the narrative situation?

Dasharatha laments the thought of Rama sleeping on the ground in the forest, far from palace protections.

Which character virtue is emphasized?

Dasharatha’s protective parental love; and implicitly, Rama’s capacity to endure hardship for truth.