← 3.35.21 · Araṇya Kāṇḍa 35: Mārīca’s warning · 3.35.23 →

Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 3.35.22

Araṇya Kāṇḍa, sarga 35: Mārīca’s warning. He corrects Rāvaṇa’s account of Rāma’s exile, praises Rāma’s character and urges consultation before a plan that could destroy Laṅkā

In the sequence: he urges consultation with Vibhīṣaṇa and the other ministers, and an honest comparison of their own strength with Rāma's → he begins further counsel based on personal experience.

3.35.22

doṣāṇāṃ ca guṇānāṃ ca saṃpradhārya balābalam
ātmanaś ca balaṃ jñātvā rāghavasya ca tattvataḥ
hitaṃ hi tava niścitya kṣamaṃ tvaṃ kartum arhasi

and having weighed the strength and weakness of the faults and merits, and truly known your own strength and Rāghava's, and ascertained what is good for you, you ought to do what is fitting.

Words: doṣāṇāṃ ca — of the faults; guṇānāṃ ca — and of the merits; saṃpradhārya — having weighed; balābalam — the relative strength; ātmanaś ca — and your own; balaṃ — strength; jñātvā — having known; rāghavasya ca — and Rāghava's; tattvataḥ — truly, in reality; hitaṃ — what is good, beneficial; hi — indeed; tava — for you; niścitya — having ascertained; kṣamaṃ — what is fitting, proper; tvaṃ — you; kartum — to do; arhasi — ought

Composed by Maharṣi Vālmīki, the ādikavi of the ādikāvya: the first poet of the first poem. Sanskrit: The Vālmīki-Rāmāyaṇa: Critical Edition, Oriental Institute, Baroda, 1960–1975 (gen. eds. G. H. Bhatt, U. P. Shah); IAST from GRETIL (Göttingen). Translation and word glosses: Claude Opus 4.6–4.7; summaries and sequences: ChatGPT Astra (machine-made). Numbering follows the Critical Edition, not the vulgate (e.g. Gita Press, valmikiramayan.net), so sarga and verse numbers can differ from those editions.