# Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa 57 — Daśaratha’s arrow aimed at a sound *He recalls mistaking a filling pot for an elephant and shooting a youth who directs him to his blind parents* Portion: Daśaratha’s confession and death · Verses: 39 · Ref format: 2.57. ## Sequence - Waking repeatedly in distress, Daśaratha begins a confession to Kausalyā at midnight on the sixth night (57.1–3) - he says that people reap the consequences of their actions and that acting without considering the result has brought him to this point (57.4–9). - He recalls his youth, before their marriage, when he was still heir: during the rainy season he went hunting beside the Sarayū (57.10–14) - waiting in darkness for an animal to drink, he heard a pot filling with water → mistaking the sound for an elephant, he shot without seeing his target (57.15–17) - a young forest tapasvin cried out, asking why someone had attacked a harmless person fetching water (57.18–22) - the wounded youth said he feared less for himself than for his blind, elderly parents, who depended entirely on him (57.23–25) - Daśaratha dropped his bow, hurried to him, and saw what he had done → the youth told him that one arrow had effectively destroyed three lives (57.26–30) - he directed Daśaratha to his parents' hermitage and asked him to confess and seek their forgiveness → he also asked him to remove the arrow, explaining that his father was a Vaiśya and his mother a Śūdra, to relieve the prince's fear of having killed a brāhmaṇa → Daśaratha drew it out, and the youth gasped from the wound (57.31–39). ## Verses **2.57.1** pratibuddho muhur tena śokopahatacetanaḥ atha rājā daśarathaḥ sa cintām abhyapadyata Awakened again and again by that grief, his mind stricken by sorrow, King Daśaratha then fell to brooding. **2.57.2** rāmalakṣmaṇayoś caiva vivāsād vāsavopamam āviveśopasargas taṃ tamaḥ sūryam ivāsuram Because of the exile of Rāma and Lakṣmaṇa, an affliction entered him who was the equal of Indra, as the demonic darkness (Rāhu) overtakes the sun. **2.57.3** sa rājā rajanīṃ ṣaṣṭhīṃ rāme pravrajite vanam ardharātre daśarathaḥ saṃsmaran duṣkṛtaṃ kṛtam kausalyāṃ putraśokārtām idaṃ vacanam abravīt On the sixth night after Rāma had gone forth to the forest, at midnight, King Daśaratha, recalling the evil deed he had done, spoke these words to Kausalyā, who was stricken with grief for her son: **2.57.4** yad ācarati kalyāṇi śubhaṃ vā yadi vāśubham tad eva labhate bhadre kartā karmajam ātmanaḥ Whatever one does, good lady, whether good or evil, that very thing, O gracious one, the doer reaps, born of his own deed. **2.57.5** guru lāghavam arthānām ārambhe karmaṇāṃ phalam doṣaṃ vā yo na jānāti sa bāla iti hocyate He who does not know, at the outset of his undertakings, the weight or the lightness of aims, the fruit of actions, or their flaw — he is called a fool. **2.57.6** kaś cid āmravaṇaṃ chittvā palāśāṃś ca niṣiñcati puṣpaṃ dṛṣṭvā phale gṛdhnuḥ sa śocati phalāgame Someone, having cut down a mango grove, waters palāśa trees; greedy for fruit at the sight of blossom, he grieves when the fruiting time comes. **2.57.7** so 'ham āmravaṇaṃ chittvā palāśāṃś ca nyaṣecayam rāmaṃ phalāgame tyaktvā paścāc chocāmi durmatiḥ So I, having cut down a mango grove and watered palāśas, cast off Rāma at the very time of fruiting; now, fool that I am, I grieve afterward. **2.57.8** labdhaśabdena kausalye kumāreṇa dhanuṣmatā kumāraḥ śabdavedhīti mayā pāpam idaṃ kṛtam tad idaṃ me 'nusaṃprāptaṃ devi duḥkhaṃ svayaṃ kṛtam O Kausalyā, by me — a prince, a bow-bearing archer who had won renown, thinking 'the prince strikes by sound alone' — this sin was committed; and so this self-wrought sorrow, O queen, has now come upon me. **2.57.9** saṃmohād iha bālena yathā syād bhakṣitaṃ viṣam evaṃ mamāpy avijñātaṃ śabdavedhyamayaṃ phalam Just as poison might be eaten by a child through delusion, so too the fruit made of my shooting-by-sound was reaped by me unawares. **2.57.10** devy anūḍhā tvam abhavo yuvarājo bhavāmy aham tataḥ prāvṛḍ anuprāptā madakāmavivardhinī O queen, you were as yet unwed and I was the crown prince; then came the rainy season, that heightens ardour and desire. **2.57.11** upāsyahi rasān bhaumāṃs taptvā ca jagad aṃśubhiḥ paretācaritāṃ bhīmāṃ ravir āviśate diśam For after drawing up the earth's moisture and scorching the world with his rays, the sun then enters the dread southern quarter, haunted by the departed spirits. **2.57.12** uṣṇam antardadhe sadyaḥ snigdhā dadṛśire ghanāḥ tato jahṛṣire sarve bhekasāraṅgabarhiṇaḥ The heat at once disappeared, and glossy clouds came into view; then all the frogs, cātaka birds, and peacocks rejoiced. **2.57.13** patitenāmbhasā channaḥ patamānena cāsakṛt ābabhau mattasāraṅgas toyarāśir ivācalaḥ Drenched by the water that had fallen and that kept falling again and again, the mountain, its cātaka birds maddened with joy, shone like a mass of water. **2.57.14** tasminn atisukhe kāle dhanuṣmān iṣumān rathī vyāyāma kṛtasaṃkalpaḥ sarayūm anvagāṃ nadīm In that most pleasant season, bearing bow and arrows and mounted in a chariot, bent on sport, I went along the river Sarayū. **2.57.15** nipāne mahiṣaṃ rātrau gajaṃ vābhyāgataṃ nadīm anyaṃ vā śvāpadaṃ kaṃ cij jighāṃsur ajitendriyaḥ Wishing to kill, at a watering-place by night, a buffalo or an elephant come to the river, or some other beast of prey — I, my senses unmastered — **2.57.16** athāndhakāre tv aśrauṣaṃ jale kumbhasya paryataḥ acakṣur viṣaye ghoṣaṃ vāraṇasyeva nardataḥ Then in the darkness I heard in the water the gurgle of a pitcher being filled — a sound beyond my sight, like that of a trumpeting elephant. **2.57.17** tato 'haṃ śaram uddhṛtya dīptam āśīviṣopamam amuñcaṃ niśitaṃ bāṇam aham āśīviṣopamam Then, drawing forth a blazing arrow like a venomous serpent, I loosed the sharp shaft — I, myself like a venomous serpent. **2.57.18** tatra vāg uṣasi vyaktā prādurāsīd vanaukasaḥ hā heti patatas toye vāg abhūt tatra mānuṣī katham asmadvidhe śastraṃ nipatet tu tapasvini Thereupon a clear voice of a forest-dweller broke forth; as he fell into the water crying 'Alas, alas!', a human voice arose there: 'How could a weapon strike an ascetic such as I?' **2.57.19** praviviktāṃ nadīṃ rātrāv udāhāro 'ham āgataḥ iṣuṇābhihataḥ kena kasya vā kiṃ kṛtaṃ mayā 'I came to this lonely river by night to fetch water; by whom have I been struck with an arrow, and to whom have I done any wrong?' **2.57.20** ṛṣer hi nyasta daṇḍasya vane vanyena jīvataḥ kathaṃ nu śastreṇa vadho madvidhasya vidhīyate 'For a seer who has laid down the rod of violence, living in the forest on forest fare — how can slaying by a weapon be ordained for one like me?' **2.57.21** jaṭābhāradharasyaiva valkalājinavāsasaḥ ko vadhena mamārthī syāt kiṃ vāsyāpakṛtaṃ mayā 'To one who bears a load of matted locks and wears bark and deerskin — who would seek my death, and what wrong have I done to him?' **2.57.22** evaṃ niṣphalam ārabdhaṃ kevalānarthasaṃhitam na kaś cit sādhu manyeta yathaiva gurutalpagam 'Such a deed, undertaken to no purpose and fraught with sheer calamity, no one would deem right, just as none approves defiling the teacher's bed.' **2.57.23** nemaṃ tathānuśocāmi jīvitakṣayam ātmanaḥ mātaraṃ pitaraṃ cobhāv anuśocāmi madvidhe 'I do not so much grieve for this loss of my own life; I grieve rather for my mother and my father, both of them, at the death of one like me.' **2.57.24** tad etān mithunaṃ vṛddhaṃ cirakālabhṛtaṃ mayā mayi pañcatvam āpanne kāṃ vṛttiṃ vartayiṣyati 'That aged pair, so long supported by me — when I have met my death, by what livelihood will they sustain themselves?' **2.57.25** vṛddhau ca mātāpitarāv ahaṃ caikeṣuṇā hataḥ kena sma nihatāḥ sarve subālenākṛtātmanā 'My aged mother and father, and I, slain by a single arrow — by whom have we all been struck down, by some mere boy of unformed mind?' **2.57.26** taṃ giraṃ karuṇāṃ śrutvā mama dharmānukāṅkṣiṇaḥ karābhyāṃ saśaraṃ cāpaṃ vyathitasyāpatad bhuvi Hearing that piteous cry, from my hands — I who long for righteousness and was shaken with grief — the bow together with its arrow fell to the ground. **2.57.27** taṃ deśam aham āgamya dīnasattvaḥ sudurmanāḥ apaśyam iṣuṇā tīre sarayvās tāpasaṃ hatam Coming to that spot, wretched in spirit and utterly disheartened, I saw on the bank of the Sarayū the ascetic slain by my arrow. **2.57.28** sa mām udvīkṣya netrābhyāṃ trastam asvasthacetasaṃ ity uvāca vacaḥ krūraṃ didhakṣann iva tejasā Gazing up at me with his eyes — me, terrified and sick at heart — he spoke these harsh words, as if to burn me with his fiery power: **2.57.29** kiṃ tavāpakṛtaṃ rājan vane nivasatā mayā jihīrṣiur ambho gurvarthaṃ yad ahaṃ tāḍitas tvayā 'What wrong have I, dwelling in the forest, done to you, O king, that I, seeking to fetch water for my elders, have been struck down by you?' **2.57.30** ekena khalu bāṇena marmaṇy abhihate mayi dvāv andhau nihatau vṛddhau mātā janayitā ca me 'Indeed, when I have been struck in a vital spot by a single arrow, two aged blind ones are slain — my mother and my father who begot me.' **2.57.31** tau nūnaṃ durbalāv andhau matpratīkṣau pipāsitau ciram āśākṛtāṃ tṛṣṇāṃ kaṣṭāṃ saṃdhārayiṣyataḥ 'Those two feeble blind ones, awaiting me and parched, will long endure their grievous thirst, sustained only by hope.' **2.57.32** na nūnaṃ tapaso vāsti phalayogaḥ śrutasya vā pitā yan māṃ na jānāti śayānaṃ patitaṃ bhuvi 'Surely there is no reward of austerity or of sacred learning, since my father does not know that I lie fallen on the ground.' **2.57.33** jānann api ca kiṃ kuryād aśaktir aparikramaḥ bhidyamānam ivāśaktas trātum anyo nago nagam 'And even if he knew, what could he do, powerless and unable to move — as one tree, itself helpless, cannot save another that is being cut down?' **2.57.34** pitus tvam eva me gatvā śīghram ācakṣva rāghava na tvām anudahet kruddho vanaṃ vahnir ivaidhitaḥ 'Go quickly yourself, O Rāghava, and tell this to my father, lest, enraged, he consume you as a kindled fire consumes a forest.' **2.57.35** iyam ekapadī rājan yato me pitur āśramaḥ taṃ prasādaya gatvā tvaṃ na tvāṃ sa kupitaḥ śapet 'This is the footpath, O king, along which lies my father's hermitage; go and appease him, so that, angered, he may not curse you.' **2.57.36** viśalyaṃ kuru māṃ rājan marma me niśitaḥ śaraḥ ruṇaddhi mṛdu sotsedhaṃ tīram amburayo yathā 'Draw the dart out of me, O king; the sharp arrow chokes my vital spot, as a river's current presses upon a soft, high bank.' **2.57.37** na dvijātir ahaṃ rājan mā bhūt te manaso vyathā śūdrāyām asmi vaiśyena jāto janapadādhipa 'I am not a twice-born, O king — let there be no anguish in your mind; I was begotten of a Vaiśya upon a Śūdra woman, O ruler of the land.' **2.57.38** itīva vadataḥ kṛcchrād bāṇābhihatamarmaṇaḥ tasya tv ānamyamānasya taṃ bāṇam aham uddharam As he was speaking thus with difficulty, his vital spot pierced by the arrow, and as he writhed, I drew that arrow out of him. **2.57.39** jalārdragātraṃ tu vilapya kṛcchān marmavraṇaṃ saṃtatam ucchasantam tataḥ sarayvāṃ tam ahaṃ śayānaṃ samīkṣya bhadre subhṛśaṃ viṣaṇṇaḥ Seeing him lying there in the Sarayū, O gracious lady, his body wet, lamenting piteously, his mortal wound heaving as he gasped without ceasing, I was utterly overcome with despair.