The Ramayana in Sanskrit: Book 2: Chapter 18

This is an excerpt from the *Ayodhya Kanda* (Book 2) of Valmiki's *Ramayana*, the Sanskrit epic, presented in both Roman transliteration and Devanagari script. The passage depicts the emotionally charged scene in which Lakshmana and Rama address their mother Kaushalya after the decree of Rama's fourteen-year forest exile has been announced. Lakshmana opens with a fierce, loyalist argument: King Dasharatha's command is illegitimate because he is senile and enslaved to Kaikeyi's will, Rama has committed no fault, and Lakshmana offers to depopulate Ayodhya itself rather than let the exile stand. Kaushalya then appeals to Rama on the grounds of filial duty to a *living* mother — equating her claim on him with the king's, and threatening to fast to death if he leaves. The passage's central tension is a conflict between two valid dharmic obligations: obedience to one's father versus care for one's mother. Rama's response is the philosophical heart of the excerpt: he overrides both Lakshmana's martial fury and his mother's grief by invoking the absolute supremacy of a father's command, citing three mythological precedents — the sage Kandu, the sons of Sagara, and most strikingly Parashurama, who executed his own mother Renuka at his father Jamadagni's order. Rama frames his exile not as submission to injustice but as participation in a path sanctified by ancestors. He concludes by asking Kaushalya's blessing, circling her in ritual farewell, his resolve unshaken.

The Ramayana in Sanskrit: Book 2: Chapter 18

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