# Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa 61 — Ayodhyā without a King

*Ministers warn that food production, worship, trade and protection will fail without a ruler and ask Vasiṣṭha to arrange succession*

Portion: Bharata is summoned home · Verses: 25 · Ref format: 2.61.<verse>

## Sequence

- At sunrise the priests and ministers assemble before Vasiṣṭha (61.1–3)
- they point out that Daśaratha is dead, Rāma and Lakṣmaṇa are in the forest, and Bharata and Śatrughna are still with the Kekayas (61.4–6)
- they urge an immediate appointment from the Ikṣvāku family (61.7–10)
- they explain what they fear without a King: neglected agriculture and public works, interrupted sacrifices and festivals, unsafe travel and trade, insecurity at home, and a weakened army (61.11–19)
- without authority to settle disputes, they say, people will prey on one another (61.20–23)
- they ask Vasiṣṭha to arrange the succession (61.24–25).

## Verses

**2.61.1**  
vyatītāyāṃ tu śarvaryām ādityasyodaye tataḥ  
sametya rājakartāraḥ sabhām īyur dvijātayaḥ  
When the night had passed, then at the rising of the sun the twice-born king-makers came together and went into the assembly hall.

**2.61.2**  
mārkaṇḍeyo 'tha maudgalyo vāmadevaś ca kāśyapaḥ  
kātyayano gautamaś ca jābāliś ca mahāyaśāḥ  
Mārkaṇḍeya, then Maudgalya, Vāmadeva and Kāśyapa, Kātyāyana and Gautama, and the greatly renowned Jābāli;

**2.61.3**  
ete dvijāḥ sahāmātyaiḥ pṛthag vācam udīrayan  
vasiṣṭham evābhimukhāḥ śreṣṭho rājapurohitam  
these brahmins, together with the ministers, each raised his voice, facing directly toward Vasiṣṭha, the foremost royal chaplain.

**2.61.4**  
atītā śarvarī duḥkhaṃ yā no varṣaśatopamā  
asmin pañcatvam āpanne putraśokena pārthive  
“Painfully has the night passed for us, a night that seemed like a hundred years, now that this king has met his death through grief for his son.

**2.61.5**  
svargataś ca mahārājo rāmaś cāraṇyam āśritaḥ  
lakṣmaṇaś cāpi tejasvī rāmeṇaiva gataḥ saha  
The great king has gone to heaven, and Rāma has resorted to the forest; the resplendent Lakṣmaṇa too has gone away together with Rāma.

**2.61.6**  
ubhau bharataśatrughnau kkekayeṣu paraṃtapau  
pure rājagṛhe ramye mātāmahaniveśane  
Both scorchers of foes, Bharata and Śatrughna, are among the Kekayas, in the lovely city of Rājagṛha, in the dwelling of their maternal grandfather.

**2.61.7**  
ikṣvākūṇām ihādyaiva kaś cid rājā vidhīyatām  
arājakaṃ hi no rāṣṭraṃ na vināśam avāpnuyāt  
Let some king of the Ikṣvākus be appointed here this very day, so that our realm, being kingless, may not fall into ruin.

**2.61.8**  
nārājale janapade vidyunmālī mahāsvanaḥ  
abhivarṣati parjanyo mahīṃ divyena vāriṇā  
In a land without a king, the lightning-wreathed, loud-thundering cloud does not pour heavenly water down upon the earth.

**2.61.9**  
nārājake janapade bījamuṣṭiḥ prakīryate  
nārākake pituḥ putro bhāryā vā vartate vaśe  
In a kingless land no handful of seed is sown; in a kingless land neither does a son stay in his father's control, nor a wife under her husband's.

**2.61.10**  
arājake dhanaṃ nāsti nāsti bhāryāpy arājake  
idam atyāhitaṃ cānyat kutaḥ satyam arājake  
In a kingless state there is no wealth, nor even a wife; and there is this further, grave calamity — whence could truth exist in a kingless state?

**2.61.11**  
nārājake janapade kārayanti sabhāṃ narāḥ  
udyānāni ca ramyāṇi hṛṣṭāḥ puṇyagṛhāṇi ca  
In a kingless land men do not, in gladness, have assembly halls built, nor lovely gardens and sacred houses.

**2.61.12**  
nārājake janapade yajñaśīlā dvijātayaḥ  
satrāṇy anvāsate dāntā brāhmaṇāḥ saṃśitavratāḥ  
In a kingless land the self-controlled twice-born, devoted to sacrifice, brahmins of rigorous vows, do not sit through the sacrificial sessions.

**2.61.13**  
nārājake janapade prabhūtanaṭanartakāḥ  
utsavāś ca samājāś ca vardhante rāṣṭravardhanāḥ  
In a kingless land the festivals and gatherings, abounding in actors and dancers, that enrich the realm, do not flourish.

**2.61.14**  
nārajake janapade siddhārthā vyavahāriṇaḥ  
kathābhir anurajyante kathāśīlāḥ kathāpriyaiḥ  
In a kingless land men of affairs, successful in their aims and fond of stories, do not take delight in tales shared with fellow lovers of tales.

**2.61.15**  
nārājake janapade vāhanaiḥ śīghragāmibhiḥ  
narā niryānty araṇyāni nārībhiḥ saha kāminaḥ  
In a kingless land amorous men do not ride out to the forests with their women in swift-moving vehicles.

**2.61.16**  
nārākaje janapade dhanavantaḥ surakṣitāḥ  
śerate vivṛta dvārāḥ kṛṣigorakṣajīvinaḥ  
In a kingless land the wealthy, though well-guarded, who live by tilling and cattle-keeping, do not sleep with their doors left open.

**2.61.17**  
nārājake janapade vaṇijo dūragāminaḥ  
gacchanti kṣemam adhvānaṃ bahupuṇyasamācitāḥ  
In a kingless land far-faring merchants, richly laden with their wares, do not travel a safe road.

**2.61.18**  
nārājake janapade caraty ekacaro vaśī  
bhāvayann ātmanātmānaṃ yatrasāyaṃgṛho muniḥ  
In a kingless land the self-controlled sage, a solitary wanderer contemplating the Self by the self and making his home wherever evening finds him, does not roam free.

**2.61.19**  
nārājake janapade yogakṣemaṃ pravartate  
na cāpy arājake senā śatrūn viṣahate yudhi  
In a kingless land welfare does not prosper, and in kinglessness the army cannot withstand the enemy in battle.

**2.61.20**  
yathā hy anudakā nadyo yathā vāpy atṛṇaṃ vanam  
agopālā yathā gāvas tathā rāṣṭram arājakam  
For as rivers without water, or a forest without grass, or cattle without a herdsman — so is a realm without a king.

**2.61.21**  
nārājake janapade svakaṃ bhavati kasya cit  
matsyā iva narā nityaṃ bhakṣayanti parasparam  
In a kingless land nothing belongs to anyone; like fishes, men constantly devour one another.

**2.61.22**  
yehi saṃbhinnamaryādā nāstikāś chinnasaṃśayāḥ  
te 'pi bhāvāya kalpante rājadaṇḍanipīḍitāḥ  
Even those who break through all bounds, unbelievers who have cast off every scruple — even they are made to conduce to order when curbed by the king's rod.

**2.61.23**  
aho tama ivedaṃ syān na prajñāyeta kiṃ cana  
rājā cen na bhaveṃl loke vibhajan sādhvasādhunī  
Ah, all this would be as darkness, and nothing could be discerned, were there no king in the world to distinguish right from wrong.

**2.61.24**  
jīvaty api mahārāje tavaiva vacanaṃ vayam  
nātikramāmahe sarve velāṃ prāpyeva sāgaraḥ  
Even while the great king lived, all of us never transgressed your very word, just as the ocean does not overpass its shore.

**2.61.25**  
sa naḥ samīkṣya dvijavaryavṛttaṃ nṛpaṃ vinā rājyam araṇyabhūtam  
kumāram ikṣvākusutaṃ vadānyaṃ tvam eva rājānam ihābhiṣiñcaya  
Therefore you, having regarded the plight of us foremost brahmins and this kingdom become a wilderness without a king, consecrate here as king a generous prince of Ikṣvāku's line.