# Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa 20 — Lakṣmaṇa opposes fate with effort *He offers to overcome every obstacle by force, Rāma wipes away his tears but remains bound to the promise* Portion: Kausalyā’s grief and Lakṣmaṇa’s resistance · Verses: 36 · Ref format: 2.20. ## Sequence - Lakṣmaṇa struggles with grief and anger (20.1–4) - he rejects Rāma's explanation: he sees deliberate manipulation disguised as duty (20.5–8) - he says a courageous person should act against misfortune instead of submitting to fate (20.9–12) - he offers to overcome every obstacle to Rāma's abhiṣeka, even opposition from their father (20.13–16) - he proposes sending the plotters into exile instead and preventing Bharata's accession (20.17–19) - he says Rāma should retire to the forest only after ruling and entrusting the Kingdom to his own sons (20.20–23) - he points to his weapons and promises to defeat anyone who intervenes (20.24–32) - he asks Rāma to name the enemy and give the order → Rāma instead wipes away his tears and repeats that he is resolved to honor their father's word (20.33–36). ## Verses **2.20.1** iti bruvati rāme tu lakṣmaṇo 'dhaḥśirā muhuḥ śrutvā madhyaṃ jagāmeva manasā duḥkhaharṣayoḥ As Rāma was speaking thus, Lakṣmaṇa, his head repeatedly hanging down, having listened, seemed in his mind to hold the middle ground between grief and joy. **2.20.2** tadā tu baddhvā bhrukuṭīṃ bhruvor madhye nararṣabha niśaśvāsa mahāsarpo bilastha iva roṣitaḥ Then, knitting a frown between his brows, that bull among men breathed hard, like a great serpent enraged within its hole. **2.20.3** tasya duṣprativīkṣyaṃ tad bhrukuṭīsahitaṃ tadā babhau kruddhasya siṃhasya mukhasya sadṛśaṃ mukham His face then, hard to look upon, contorted with a frown, shone like the face of an angry lion. **2.20.4** agrahas taṃ vidhunvaṃs tu hastī hastam ivātmanaḥ tiryag ūrdhvaṃ śarīre ca pātayitvā śirodharām Tossing his forearm as an elephant tosses its own trunk, and throwing his neck aslant and upward upon his body, **2.20.5** agrākṣṇā vīkṣamāṇas tu tiryag bhrātaram abravīt asthāne saṃbhramo yasya jāto vai sumahān ayam —looking askance at his brother with the corner of his eye, he said: "This exceedingly great agitation of yours has arisen out of season. **2.20.6** dharmadoṣaprasaṅgena lokasyānatiśaṅkayā kathaṃ hy etad asaṃbhrāntas tvadvidho vaktum arhati For how could one like you, unagitated, be right to speak this way—out of a scruple about a fault in dharma and out of over-deference to the world? **2.20.7** yathā daivam aśauṇḍīraṃ śauṇḍīraḥ kṣatriyarṣabhaḥ kiṃ nāma kṛpaṇaṃ daivam aśaktam abhiśaṃsasi Being a valiant bull among warriors, how is it that you extol impotent fate—that wretched, powerless fate? **2.20.8** pāpayos tu kathaṃ nāma tayoḥ śaṅkā na vidyate santi dharmopadhāḥ ślakṣṇā dharmātman kiṃ na budhyase How is it, then, that no suspicion of those two wicked ones arises in you? There are smooth frauds dressed up as dharma—O righteous one, why do you not perceive it? **2.20.9** lokavidviṣṭam ārabdhaṃ tvadanyasyābhiṣecanam yeneyam āgatā dvaidhaṃ tava buddhir mahīpate sa hi dharmo mama dveṣyaḥ prasaṅgād yasya muhyasi The consecration of another than you, hated by the world, has been set afoot—by which your mind, O lord of earth, has fallen into this division; that dharma indeed, by whose entanglement you are deluded, is hateful to me. **2.20.10** yady api pratipattis te daivī cāpi tayor matam tathāpy upekṣaṇīyaṃ te na me tad api rocate Even if your conviction is that this is fated and is the intent of those two, still it is a thing you should disregard; that too does not please me. **2.20.11** viklavo vīryahīno yaḥ sa daivam anuvartate vīrāḥ saṃbhāvitātmāno na daivaṃ paryupāsate It is the faint-hearted man, void of valour, who submits to fate; heroes of self-respecting souls do not wait upon fate. **2.20.12** daivaṃ puruṣakāreṇa yaḥ samarthaḥ prabādhitum na daivena vipannārthaḥ puruṣaḥ so 'vasīdati The man who is able to beat back fate by manly effort—he, his purpose foiled by fate, does not sink down. **2.20.13** drakṣyanti tv adya daivasya pauruṣaṃ puruṣasya ca daivamānuṣayor adya vyaktā vyaktir bhaviṣyati Today men shall see the manly might of fate and of man; today the distinction between the divine and the human will become plain. **2.20.14** adya matpauruṣahataṃ daivaṃ drakṣyanti vai janāḥ yad daivād āhataṃ te 'dya dṛṣṭaṃ rājyābhiṣecanam Today people shall surely see fate struck down by my manhood—the fate through which your royal consecration was, as we saw today, dashed away. **2.20.15** atyaṅkuśam ivoddāmaṃ gajaṃ madabaloddhatam pradhāvitam ahaṃ daivaṃ pauruṣeṇa nivartaye As one turns back a rampaging elephant, unbridled and beyond the goad, made wild by the strength of its rut, so I turn back onrushing fate by manly effort. **2.20.16** lokapālāḥ samastās te nādya rāmābhiṣecanam na ca kṛtsnās trayo lokā vihanyuḥ kiṃ punaḥ pitā Not all the guardians of the world together, nor the entire three worlds, could thwart Rāma's consecration today—how much less your father! **2.20.17** yair vivāsas tavāraṇye mitho rājan samarthitaḥ araṇye te vivatsyanti caturdaśa samās tathā Those by whom your banishment to the forest was contrived in secret, O king—they shall themselves dwell in the forest fourteen years instead. **2.20.18** ahaṃ tadāśāṃ chetsyāmi pitus tasyāś ca yā tava abhiṣekavighātena putrarājyāya vartate I shall cut off that hope of your father's and of hers which, by the thwarting of your consecration, works toward the kingship for her son. **2.20.19** madbalena viruddhāya na syād daivabalaṃ tathā prabhaviṣyati duḥkhāya yathograṃ pauruṣaṃ mama Against him whom my strength opposes, the power of fate would not so avail to bring suffering as my fierce manhood shall avail. **2.20.20** ūrdhvaṃ varṣasahasrānte prajāpālyam anantaram āryaputrāḥ kariṣyanti vanavāsaṃ gate tvayi After a thousand years and more, the guardianship of the people [duly passed on], your noble sons shall in their turn take up the forest-dwelling, once you yourself have gone. **2.20.21** pūrvarājarṣivṛttyā hi vanavāso vidhīyate prajā nikṣipya putreṣu putravat paripālane For by the practice of the royal seers of old, forest-dwelling is enjoined only after entrusting the subjects to one's sons, to be cherished as one cherishes a son. **2.20.22** sa ced rājany anekāgre rājyavibhramaśaṅkayā naivam icchasi dharmātman rājyaṃ rāma tvam ātmani If, O righteous Rāma, from fear of upheaval in a realm of many rival chiefs you thus do not desire the kingship for yourself, **2.20.23** pratijāne ca te vīra mā bhūvaṃ vīralokabhāk rājyaṃ ca tava rakṣeyam ahaṃ veleva sāgaram I vow to you, hero—may I lose my share in the heroes' world if I fail—that I would guard your kingship as the shore guards the sea. **2.20.24** maṅgalair abhiṣiñcasva tatra tvaṃ vyāpṛto bhava aham eko mahīpālān alaṃ vārayituṃ balāt Have yourself consecrated with the auspicious rites; busy yourself with that; I alone am enough to ward off the kings of earth by force. **2.20.25** na śobhārthāv imau bāhū na dhanur bhūṣaṇāya me nāsirābandhanārthāya na śarāḥ stambhahetavaḥ These two arms of mine are not for show, nor is my bow for ornament, nor is my sword merely for wearing bound at the waist, nor are my arrows meant to stand idle as props. **2.20.26** amitradamanārthaṃ me sarvam etac catuṣṭayam na cāhaṃ kāmaye 'tyarthaṃ yaḥ syāc chatrur mato mama All this fourfold gear of mine is for the taming of foes; and I have no wish at all to spare whoever is reckoned my enemy. **2.20.27** asinā tīkṣṇadhāreṇa vidyuccalitavarcasā pragṛhītena vai śatruṃ vajriṇaṃ vā na kalpaye With my keen-edged sword grasped in hand, its splendor flashing like lightning, I would take no account of an enemy, were he even the thunderbolt-wielding Indra. **2.20.28** khaḍganiṣpeṣaniṣpiṣṭair gahanā duścarā ca me hastyaśvanarahastoruśirobhir bhavitā mahī Through me the earth will become dense and hard to cross with the trunks, thighs, and heads of elephants, horses, and men, crushed by the smiting of my sword. **2.20.29** khaḍgadhārā hatā me 'dya dīpyamānā ivādrayaḥ patiṣyanti dvipā bhūmau meghā iva savidyutaḥ Smitten today by the edge of my sword, elephants gleaming like mountains will fall to the ground like clouds charged with lightning. **2.20.30** baddhagodhāṅgulitrāṇe pragṛhītaśarāsane kathaṃ puruṣamānī syāt puruṣāṇāṃ mayi sthite When I stand with my leather arm-guard and finger-guards bound on and my bow grasped, how could any of men account himself a man? **2.20.31** bahubhiś caikam atyasyann ekena ca bahūñ janān viniyokṣyāmy ahaṃ bāṇān nṛvājigajamarmasu Overwhelming a single man with many arrows and many men with a single one, I shall loose my shafts into the vital parts of men, horses, and elephants. **2.20.32** adya me 'straprabhāvasya prabhāvaḥ prabhaviṣyati rājñaś cāprabhutāṃ kartuṃ prabhutvaṃ ca tava prabho Today the might of me, whose might lies in my weapons, shall prevail—to make the king powerless and you, my lord, sovereign. **2.20.33** adya candanasārasya keyūrāmokṣaṇasya ca vasūnāṃ ca vimokṣasya suhṛdāṃ pālanasya ca Today, fit for [applying] the essence of sandal, for the clasping-on of armlets, for the bestowing of wealth and for the protecting of friends— **2.20.34** anurūpāv imau bāhū rāma karma kariṣyataḥ abhiṣecanavighnasya kartṝṇāṃ te nivāraṇe —these two arms, so worthy, O Rāma, shall do their fitting work: the warding off of those who would make obstruction to your consecration. **2.20.35** bravīhi ko 'dyaiva mayā viyujyatāṃ tavāsuhṛt prāṇayaśaḥ suhṛjjanaiḥ yathā taveyaṃ vasudhā vaśe bhavet tathaiva māṃ śādhi tavāsmi kiṃkaraḥ Tell me: which enemy of yours shall this very day be parted by me from his life, his fame, and his friends? Command me in whatever way this earth may come under your sway—I am your servant. **2.20.36** vimṛjya bāṣpaṃ parisāntvya cāsakṛt sa lakṣmaṇaṃ rāghavavaṃśavardhanaḥ uvāca pitrye vacane vyavasthitaṃ nibodha mām eṣa hi saumya satpathaḥ Wiping away his tears and soothing Lakṣmaṇa again and again, Rāma, augmenter of the Rāghava line, said: "Know me to be firmly set upon our father's word; for this, gentle one, is the path of the good."