# Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa 72 — Bharata stops Mantharā’s punishment *Śatrughna drags her across the floor, Bharata orders her release to avoid Rāma’s condemnation* Portion: Daśaratha’s funeral and Mantharā’s punishment · Verses: 25 · Ref format: 2.72. ## Sequence - Śatrughna angrily asks why Lakṣmaṇa did not prevent the exile, even by restraining their father (72.1–4) - a doorkeeper seizes Mantharā as she appears in the palace and brings her before him (72.5–8) - Śatrughna grabs her, saying she should suffer for the harm she caused → her companions flee in fear (72.9–14) - he drags her across the floor, scattering her ornaments (72.15–17) - he also rebukes Kaikeyī, who runs to Bharata for protection (72.18–20) - Bharata tells him to release Mantharā, saying that Rāma would condemn the killing and refuse to speak to either brother → Śatrughna lets her go, and she takes refuge with Kaikeyī (72.21–25). ## Verses **2.72.1** atra yātrāṃ samīhantaṃ śatrughno lakṣmaṇānujaḥ bharataṃ śokasaṃtaptam idaṃ vacanam abravīt At this point Śatrughna, the younger brother of Lakṣmaṇa, spoke these words to Bharata, tormented by grief and preparing to set out: **2.72.2** gatir yaḥ sarvabhūtānāṃ duḥkhe kiṃ punar ātmanaḥ sa rāmaḥ sattva saṃpannaḥ striyā pravrājito vanam He who is the refuge of all beings in distress — how much more of his own kin — that Rāma, endowed with goodness, has been banished to the forest by a woman. **2.72.3** balavān vīrya saṃpanno lakṣmaṇo nāma yo 'py asau kiṃ na mocayate rāmaṃ kṛtvāpi pitṛnigraham And that mighty one named Lakṣmaṇa, endowed with valour — why does he not set Rāma free, even by restraining their father? **2.72.4** pūrvam eva tu nigrāhyaḥ samavekṣya nayānayau utpathaṃ yaḥ samārūḍho nāryā rājā vaśaṃ gataḥ Rather, considering right policy and wrong, the king ought to have been restrained beforehand — he who took the wrong path and fell under a woman's power. **2.72.5** iti saṃbhāṣamāṇe tu śatrughne lakṣmaṇānuje prāgdvāre 'bhūt tadā kubjā sarvābharaṇabhūṣitā As Śatrughna, Lakṣmaṇa's younger brother, was speaking thus, the hunchbacked woman then appeared at the eastern gate, adorned with all her ornaments, **2.72.6** liptā candanasāreṇa rājavastrāṇi bibhratī mekhalā dāmabhiś citrai rajjubaddheva vānarī smeared with the finest sandal-paste, wearing royal garments, girdles and diverse cords — like a she-monkey bound with a rope. **2.72.7** tāṃ samīkṣya tadā dvāḥstho bhṛśaṃ pāpasya kāriṇīm gṛhītvākaruṇaṃ kubjāṃ śatrughnāya nyavedayat Seeing her then — the doer of such great evil — the doorkeeper mercilessly seized the hunchback and reported her to Śatrughna: **2.72.8** yasyāḥ kṛte vane rāmo nyastadehaś ca vaḥ pitā seyaṃ pāpā nṛśaṃsā ca tasyāḥ kuru yathāmati She for whose sake Rāma is in the forest and your father laid down his body — this is that woman, wicked and cruel; do with her as you see fit. **2.72.9** śatrughnaś ca tad ājñāya vacanaṃ bhṛśaduḥkhitaḥ antaḥpuracarān sarvān ity uvāca dhṛtavrataḥ And Śatrughna, understanding that speech, deeply grieved and firm in his vow, said this to all the attendants of the inner apartments: **2.72.10** tīvram utpāditaṃ duḥkhaṃ bhrātṝṇāṃ me tathā pituḥ yayā seyaṃ nṛśaṃsasya karmaṇaḥ phalam aśnutām The fierce grief that this woman has caused to my brothers and to my father — let her now reap the fruit of that cruel deed. **2.72.11** evam uktā ca tenāśu sakhī janasamāvṛtā gṛhītā balavat kubjā sā tadgṛham anādayat Thus addressed by him, the hunchback, surrounded by her circle of companions, was forcibly seized, and she made that house resound with her cries. **2.72.12** tataḥ subhṛśa saṃtaptas tasyāḥ sarvaḥ sakhījanaḥ kruddham ājñāya śatrughnaṃ vyapalāyata sarvaśaḥ Then all her circle of companions, greatly distressed, knowing Śatrughna to be enraged, fled away in every direction. **2.72.13** amantrayata kṛtsnaś ca tasyāḥ sarvasakhījanaḥ yathāyaṃ samupakrānto niḥśeṣaṃ naḥ kariṣyati And her whole circle of companions took counsel: 'The way he has set about this, he will make an utter end of us.' **2.72.14** sānukrośāṃ vadānyāṃ ca dharmajñāṃ ca yaśasvinīm kausalyāṃ śaraṇaṃ yāmaḥ sā hi no 'stu dhruvā gatiḥ Let us go for refuge to Kausalyā — compassionate, generous, knowing dharma, and illustrious; may she be our sure recourse. **2.72.15** sa ca roṣeṇa tāmrākṣaḥ śatrughnaḥ śatrutāpanaḥ vicakarṣa tadā kubjāṃ krośantīṃ pṛthivītale And Śatrughna, tormentor of foes, his eyes red with rage, then dragged the screaming hunchback along the ground. **2.72.16** tasyā hy ākṛṣyamāṇāyā mantharāyās tatas tataḥ citraṃ bahuvidhaṃ bhāṇḍaṃ pṛthivyāṃ tad vyaśīryata As Mantharā was dragged this way and that, her manifold, gaily-decorated trappings scattered upon the ground. **2.72.17** tena bhāṇḍena saṃkīrṇaṃ śrīmadrājaniveśanam aśobhata tadā bhūyaḥ śāradaṃ gaganaṃ yathā Strewn with those ornaments, the splendid royal palace then shone all the more, like the autumn sky studded with stars. **2.72.18** sa balī balavat krodhād gṛhītvā puruṣarṣabhaḥ kaikeyīm abhinirbhartsya babhāṣe paruṣaṃ vacaḥ That mighty bull among men, having seized her fiercely in his wrath, sternly rebuked Kaikeyī and spoke harsh words. **2.72.19** tair vākyaiḥ paruṣair duḥkhaiḥ kaikeyī bhṛśaduḥkhitā śatrughna bhayasaṃtrastā putraṃ śaraṇam āgatā By those harsh, grievous words Kaikeyī, deeply distressed and terrified with fear of Śatrughna, came to her son Bharata for refuge. **2.72.20** tāṃ prekṣya bharataḥ kruddhaṃ śatrughnam idam abravīt avadhyāḥ sarvabhūtānāṃ pramadāḥ kṣamyatām iti Looking at her, Bharata said this to the enraged Śatrughna: 'Women are not to be slain by any beings; let her be pardoned.' **2.72.21** hanyām aham imāṃ pāpāṃ kaikeyīṃ duṣṭacāriṇīm yadi māṃ dhārmiko rāmo nāsūyen mātṛghātakam I would kill this wicked, evil-doing Kaikeyī, were it not that the righteous Rāma would reproach me as a matricide. **2.72.22** imām api hatāṃ kubjāṃ yadi jānāti rāghavaḥ tvāṃ ca māṃ caiva dharmātmā nābhibhāṣiṣyate dhruvam If Rāghava should learn that even this hunchback had been slain, the righteous one would surely never speak again to you or to me. **2.72.23** bharatasya vacaḥ śrutvā śatrughno lakṣmaṇānujaḥ nyavartata tato roṣāt tāṃ mumoca ca mantharām Hearing Bharata's words, Śatrughna, Lakṣmaṇa's younger brother, then desisted from his anger and released Mantharā. **2.72.24** sā pādamūle kaikeyyā mantharā nipapāta ha niḥśvasantī suduḥkhārtā kṛpaṇaṃ vilalāpa ca Mantharā fell down at Kaikeyī's feet, sighing, sorely afflicted, and wailed piteously. **2.72.25** śatrughnavikṣepavimūḍhasaṃjñāṃ samīkṣya kubjāṃ bharatasya mātā śanaiḥ samāśvāsayad ārtarūpāṃ krauñcīṃ vilagnām iva vīkṣamāṇām Bharata's mother, looking upon the hunchback — her senses dazed by Śatrughna's rough handling, piteous in appearance, staring about like a female krauñca caught in a snare — gently consoled her.