Valmiki Ramayana 2.9.47: Ayodhya Kanda, Sarga 9, Shloka 47

मन्थराप्रेरणा · वरद्वय-स्मरणं च

Manthara’s Provocation and the Recalling of Two Boons

Spoken by Kaikeyi to MantharaSetting: Ayodhya (Kaikeyi’s inner apartments/antahpura implied)Places named: forest (vana)

Devanagari script

अत्र ते प्रतिमोक्ष्यामि मालां कुब्जे हिरण्मयीम् ॥४७॥

अभिषिक्ते च भरते राघवे च वनं गते ।

Recitation with translationValmiki Ramayana 2.9.47

Transliteration

atra te pratimokṣyāmi mālāṃ kubje hiraṇmayīm ||47||

abhiṣikte ca bharate rāghave ca vanaṃ gate |

Translation

ณ ที่นี้เอง โอ้หญิงหลังค่อม เราจักสวมพวงมาลัยทองคำไว้บนโหนกหลังของเจ้า—เมื่อภรตะได้รับราชาภิเษกแล้ว และราฆวะเสด็จไปสู่ป่า

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Word by Word

• atra: here
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: atra (अव्यय)
• Form: Avyaya, adverb of place
• Role: Adhikaraṇa (अधिकरण)

• te: to you/for you
• Type: Noun
• Root: tvad (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Sarvanāma, Caturthī (4/चतुर्थी), Ekavacana
• Role: Sampradāna (सम्प्रदान)

• pratimokṣyāmi: I will fasten/put on (for you)
• Type: Verb
• Root: prati-muc (धातु)
• Form: Luṭ-lakāra (लुट्/Periphrastic future), Uttama-puruṣa (1st), Ekavacana; parasmaipada
• Role: Kriyā (क्रिया)

• mālām: garland
• Type: Noun
• Root: mālā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Strīliṅga, Dvitīyā (2/द्वितीया), Ekavacana
• Role: Karma (कर्म)

• kubje: O hunchback (Mantharā)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kubjā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Strīliṅga, Sambodhana, Ekavacana
• Role: Sambodhana (सम्बोधन)

• hiraṇmayīm: golden
• Type: Adjective
• Root: hiraṇmaya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Strīliṅga, Dvitīyā, Ekavacana; qualifying 'mālām'
• Role: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)

• abhiṣikte: when (Bharata) is consecrated
• Type: Adjective
• Root: abhi-ṣic (धातु) + kta (क्त)
• Form: Kta-participle used locative absolute; Puṃliṅga, Saptamī, Ekavacana; with 'bharate'
• Role: Adhikaraṇa (अधिकरण/सप्तमी-सम्बन्ध)

• ca: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: Samuccaya-nipāta
• Role: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/connector)

• bharate: in/when Bharata
• Type: Noun
• Root: bharata (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Puṃliṅga, Saptamī, Ekavacana; locative absolute with 'abhiṣikte'
• Role: Adhikaraṇa (अधिकरण)

• rāghave: when Rāghava (Rāma)
• Type: Noun
• Root: rāghava (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Puṃliṅga, Saptamī, Ekavacana; locative absolute with 'gate'
• Role: Adhikaraṇa (अधिकरण)

• ca: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: Samuccaya-nipāta
• Role: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/connector)

• vanam: to the forest
• Type: Noun
• Root: vana (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Napumsaka, Dvitīyā, Ekavacana; goal with 'gate'
• Role: Karma (कर्म/गति-लक्ष्य)

• gate: having gone/when gone
• Type: Adjective
• Root: gam (धातु) + kta (क्त)
• Form: Kta-participle used locative absolute; Puṃliṅga, Saptamī, Ekavacana; agreeing with 'rāghave'
• Role: Adhikaraṇa (अधिकरण)

Sandhi Notes

• abhiṣikte ca = abhiṣikte + ca
• vanaṅ gate = vanam + gate (anusvāra by sandhi in some recensions)

Context

O hunchback, with Rama gone to the forest and Bharata consecrated, I shall drape this hump with a golden garland.

The teaching

When power is pursued through manipulation, the reward becomes the seed of collective suffering.

Duties in tension

• Queenly duty to uphold dharma and protect the rightful heir
• Maternal attachment to Bharata’s elevation
• Ethical duty to avoid deceit and harm

Ethical theme

Rajadharma / nīti (court ethics)

How it resolves

Adharmic choice (instrumentalizing reward to secure exile and coronation)

For your practice

Contemplation on how desire and favoritism distort judgment; practice of vairāgya and satya in speech.

Mood and themes

Rasa

Raudra (fury), with Bibhatsa (disgust)

Mood

Scheming, hard-edged, triumphal

Themes

• Dharma
• Satya
• Itihasa
• Ethics
• Boons
• Exile
• Reward for manipulation

Symbolism

Relationships

Cross references

Meter and recitation

Characters & Entities

• Kaikeyī
• Mantharā
• Bharata
• Rāghava (Rāma)
• Forest (Vana)

FAQs

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

It shows the moral peril of rewarding wrongdoing. Dharma warns that incentives given for harmful counsel deepen injustice and bind the giver to the consequences.

What is the narrative situation?

Kaikeyī promises Mantharā gifts once the plan succeeds: Bharata’s coronation and Rāma’s exile to the forest.

Which character virtue is emphasized?

A lapse of virtue—gratitude is present, but misdirected toward a destructive aim, illustrating how loyalty without dharma becomes complicity.