Valmiki Ramayana 2.21.47: Ayodhya Kanda, Sarga 21, Shloka 47
अयोध्याकाण्डे एकविंशः सर्गः · Lakṣmaṇa’s militant counsel and Rāma’s dharma
based persuasion of Kausalyā
Spoken by Rama to KausalyaSetting: Ayodhya palace (implied)Places named: vanaImminent forest-exile with assurance of return
शोकस्सन्धार्यतां मात र्हृदये साधु मा शुचः ।
वनवासादिहैष्यामि पुनः कृत्वा पितुर्वचः ॥४७॥
śokaḥ sandhāryatāṃ mātar hṛdaye sādhu mā śucaḥ |
vanavāsād ihaiṣyāmi punaḥ kṛtvā pitur vacaḥ ||47||
اے ماں! اپنے دل میں غم کو سنبھال کر رکھ، بھلائی اسی میں ہے؛ غم نہ کر۔ باپ کے فرمان کو پورا کر کے میں جنگل کے واس سے پھر یہاں لوٹ آؤں گا۔
Sandhi Notes
- शोकस्सन्धार्यताम् = शोकः + सन्धार्यताम्
- मातर्हृदये = मातः + हृदये
- वनवासादिह = वनवासात् + इह
- इहैष्यामि = इह + एष्यामि
- पितुर्वचः = पितुः + वचः
Do not grieve, O mother! Be prudent enough to subdue your sorrow in your heart. Having fulfilled father's words, I shall come back from my sojourn in the forest.
The teaching
Restrain grief with wisdom; dharma sometimes demands painful separation, but steadiness and promise of return sustain the heart.
Duties in tension
- Mother’s emotional need for son’s presence vs son’s duty to fulfill father’s command
- Personal compassion vs impersonal obligation to dharma
- Ethical theme
- Dharma (filial obedience tempered by compassion)
- How it resolves
- Compassionate reassurance while upholding pitṛ-ājñā
For your practice
Practice of śoka-nirodha and titikṣā; supports devotional surrender to dharma as divine order.
Mood and themes
- Rasa
- Karuna (compassion), with Shanta (peace)
- Mood
- Consoling, heart-held, steadfast
Themes
- Dharma
- Satya
- Consolation
- Filial duty
- Emotional discipline
Titikṣā (endurance of dualities) as a sādhana; holding grief without collapse aligns with inner steadiness.
Ethos of inner control and steadiness (dama/śama-like restraint) rather than outward agitation.
- Rama and Kausalya
- Son consoling grieving mother (compassionate-assuring)
- Rama and Dasharatha
- Son committed to father’s command (dutiful)
Bhagavad Gītā 2.14–2.15 (titikṣā; enduring sorrow); Rāmacaritamānasa, Ayodhyākāṇḍa: Rāma’s consolations to Kausalyā (parallel emotional register)
Dharmaśāstric ideal of obeying father’s command
Ayodhyākāṇḍa: repeated motif ‘pituḥ vacanam’ as binding dharma
Anuṣṭup (śloka)
Grieving yet steady
Soft, descending cadence on ‘mā śucaḥ’; firm resolution on ‘pituḥ vacaḥ’
FAQs
Dharma involves inner steadiness: sorrow must be governed, not allowed to derail righteous action. Fulfilling the father’s command is presented as the dharmic endpoint of the ordeal.
Kausalyā is overwhelmed; Rāma urges composure and reiterates that he will return after honoring Daśaratha’s command.
Compassionate firmness: Rāma acknowledges grief but teaches emotional restraint aligned with duty.
Ask anything about this verse
Answers come straight from the texts, with the shlokas they draw on. Ask in your own words.
A free sign-in with Google or Apple keeps your chat saved across web and the app.
Read Valmiki Ramayana in the Vedapath app
Scan the QR code to open this directly in the app, with word-by-word meanings, Sanskrit recitation where available, and more.
