Valmiki Ramayana 2.73.5: Ayodhya Kanda, Sarga 73, Shloka 5
भरतस्य कैकेय्याः प्रति धिक्कारः · Bharata’s Rebuke of Kaikeyi and Affirmation of Ikshvaku Royal Dharma
Spoken by Bharata to KaikeyiSetting: Ayodhyā (palace)
मृत्युमापादितो पिता त्वया मे पापदर्शिनि ।
सुखं परिहृतं मोहात्कुलेऽस्मिन्कुलपांसनि ॥५॥
mṛtyum āpādito pitā tvayā me pāpadarśini |
sukhaṃ parihṛtaṃ mohāt kule 'smin kulapāṃsani ||5||
โอ้หญิงผู้มีเจตนาบาป! เพราะเจ้า บิดาของข้าถูกผลักให้ถึงความตาย; ด้วยความหลง เจ้าได้พรากสุขจากเรือนนี้ไป โอ้ผู้เป็นมลทินแห่งวงศ์ตระกูล
Sandhi Notes
- मृत्युमापादितो = मृत्युम् + आपादितः
- कुलेऽस्मिन् = कुले + अस्मिन्
O woman of sinful thoughts, you have brought about the death of my father. O obloquy of the race, by your folly you have deprived this family of its happiness.
The teaching
Delusion-driven ambition can kill joy and life itself; a dynasty’s welfare depends on purity of intent and counsel.
Duties in tension
- Filial reverence toward mother vs obligation to condemn adharma and defend father’s honor
- Royal duty to preserve stability vs personal ambition within succession politics
- Ethical theme
- Gṛhastha-dharma / rājadharma
- How it resolves
- Ethical indictment; reaffirmation that adharma brings death and loss of sukha
For your practice
Practice of self-audit: examine motives to avoid harming others; cultivate sattva to prevent moha-born decisions.
Mood and themes
- Rasa
- Raudra (fury), with Karuna (compassion)
- Mood
- Scathing, grief-fueled, condemnatory
Themes
- Dharma
- Moral accountability
- Family order
- Condemnation of delusion (moha)
Tamas and rajas cloud buddhi; actions born of delusion yield duḥkha-phala.
Bṛhadāraṇyaka/Chāndogya ethical emphasis: as one wills/acts, so one becomes—intent (saṅkalpa) shaping outcome.
- Bharata and Kaikeyi
- Son-to-mother (denunciation) (adversarial)
- Kaikeyi and Dasharatha
- Wife-to-husband (alleged cause of death) (adversarial)
- Bharata and Dasharatha
- Son-to-father (bereavement) (compassionate)
Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.73.1–2.73.12 (Bharata’s harsh reproach); Rāmacaritamānasa Ayodhyākāṇḍa: Bharata’s lament and rejection of Kaikeyī’s act (parallel sentiment)
Itihāsa-Purāṇa motif of 'pāpa-buddhi' counsel destroying kings
Kaikeyī’s two boons and Mantharā’s instigation (2.7–2.12); Daśaratha’s death and queens’ lament (2.64–2.67)
Anuṣṭup (śloka)
Commanding
Hard caesura after vocatives; emphatic descent on 'kule’smin kula-pāṃsani'
FAQs
Moha (delusion) is portrayed as a root of adharma: when desire blinds judgment, it destroys familial harmony and causes death-like consequences in the moral world.
Bharata directly blames Kaikeyi for Dasharatha’s death and for the loss of happiness across the royal household.
Uprightness and refusal to collude with wrongdoing—Bharata openly names moral failure rather than benefiting from it.
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