# Araṇya Kāṇḍa 62 — Lakṣmaṇa recalls Rāma’s own teaching *Even the great suffer loss, judgment and effort must survive grief so that the enemy can be found and defeated* Portion: The battle’s traces and Rāma’s anger · Verses: 20 · Ref format: 3.62. ## Sequence - When grief again overwhelms Rāma, Lakṣmaṇa presses his feet and helps him recover (62.1–2) - he reminds him how dearly Daśaratha obtained and loved him, and asks how ordinary people could bear suffering if Rāma cannot (62.3–6) - he cites misfortune even among the great: Yayāti's fall, Vasiṣṭha's loss of a hundred sons, the earth's tremors, and eclipses of the sun and moon (62.7–12) - he urges Rāma to maintain judgment and hope rather than surrender to grief (62.13–16) - he says he is only awakening the wisdom Rāma himself has taught him → Rāma should use his strength to discover and defeat the actual enemy, not destroy all beings (62.17–20). ## Verses **3.62.1** taṃ tathā śokasaṃtaptaṃ vilapantam anāthavat mohena mahatāviṣṭaṃ paridyūnam acetanam Him, thus tormented with grief, lamenting like one forlorn, overcome by a great swoon, utterly dejected and senseless — **3.62.2** tataḥ saumitrir āśvāsya muhūrtād iva lakṣmaṇaḥ rāmaṃ saṃbodhayām āsa caraṇau cābhipīḍayan Then Saumitri Lakṣmaṇa, comforting him, after a moment brought Rāma to his senses, pressing his feet the while. **3.62.3** mahatā tapasā rāma mahatā cāpi karmaṇā rājñā daśarathenāsīl labdho 'mṛtam ivāmaraiḥ “By great austerity, Rāma, and by great deeds too, you were won by King Daśaratha, as the nectar was won by the immortals. **3.62.4** tava caiva guṇair baddhas tvadviyogān mahīpatiḥ rājā devatvam āpanno bharatasya yathā śrutam “Bound by your virtues, the lord of earth — the king — through separation from you attained godhood, as Bharata has heard. **3.62.5** yadi duḥkham idaṃ prāptaṃ kākutstha na sahiṣyase prākṛtaś cālpasattvaś ca itaraḥ kaḥ sahiṣyati “If you, O Kākutstha, will not endure this grief that has come upon you, what other man, being common and of small spirit, could endure it? **3.62.6** duḥkhito hi bhavāṃl lokāṃs tejasā yadi dhakṣyate ārtāḥ prajā naravyāghra kva nu yāsyanti nirvṛtim “For if you, sorrowing, should burn up the worlds with your fiery power, where, O tiger among men, will the afflicted creatures go for peace? **3.62.7** lokasvabhāva evaiṣa yayātir nahuṣātmajaḥ gataḥ śakreṇa sālokyam anayas taṃ samaspṛśat “This is the very nature of the world: Yayāti, son of Nahuṣa, having attained a shared abode with Indra, was yet touched by ruin. **3.62.8** maharṣayo vasiṣṭhas tu yaḥ pitur naḥ purohitaḥ ahnā putraśataṃ jajñe tathaivāsya punar hatam “And the great seer Vasiṣṭha, who is the family priest of our father — in a single day a hundred sons were born to him, and likewise again they were slain. **3.62.9** yā ceyaṃ jagato mātā devī lokanamaskṛtā asyāś ca calanaṃ bhūmer dṛśyate satyasaṃśrava “And this goddess who is the mother of the world, revered by all peoples — even of this Earth a quaking is seen, O you of true resolve. **3.62.10** yau cemau jagatāṃ netre yatra sarvaṃ pratiṣṭhitam ādityacandrau grahaṇam abhyupetau mahābalau “And those two mighty eyes of the worlds, on which all rests — the sun and the moon — undergo eclipse. **3.62.11** sumahānty api bhūtāni devāś ca puruṣarṣabha na daivasya pramuñcanti sarvabhūtāni dehinaḥ “Even the mightiest beings and the gods, O bull among men — all embodied beings do not escape from fate. **3.62.12** śakrādiṣv api deveṣu vartamānau nayānayau śrūyete naraśārdūla na tvaṃ vyathitum arhasi “Good fortune and ill are heard to prevail even among the gods, Indra foremost, O tiger among men; you ought not to be shaken. **3.62.13** naṣṭāyām api vaidehyāṃ hṛtāyām api cānagha śocituṃ nārhase vīra yathānyaḥ prākṛtas tathā “Though Vaidehī be lost, though she be carried off, O blameless one, you ought not to grieve, hero, as another common man would. **3.62.14** tvadvidhā hi na śocanti satataṃ satyadarśinaḥ sumahatsv api kṛcchreṣu rāmānirviṇṇadarśaṇāḥ “For men like you, ever seers of truth, do not grieve even in the greatest hardships, Rāma, keeping their outlook undespairing. **3.62.15** tattvato hi naraśreṣṭha buddhyā samanucintaya buddhyā yuktā mahāprājñā vijānanti śubhāśubhe “Reflect well upon the truth, O best of men, with your reason; for the greatly wise, endowed with reason, discern good and evil. **3.62.16** adṛṣṭaguṇadoṣāṇām adhṛtānāṃ ca karmaṇām nāntareṇa kriyāṃ teṣāṃ phalam iṣṭaṃ pravartate “Of deeds whose merits and faults are unseen and which are not firmly settled, the desired fruit does not come about without action. **3.62.17** mām eva hi purā vīra tvam eva bahuṣo 'nvaśāḥ anuśiṣyād dhi ko nu tvām api sākṣād bṛhaspatiḥ “For it was you, hero, who formerly instructed me many times; who indeed could instruct you — even Bṛhaspati himself? **3.62.18** buddhiś ca te mahāprājña devair api duranvayā śokenābhiprasuptaṃ te jñānaṃ saṃbodhayāmy aham “Your wisdom, O greatly wise one, is hard even for the gods to fathom; I but rouse the knowledge in you that has fallen asleep through grief. **3.62.19** divyaṃ ca mānuṣaṃ caivam ātmanaś ca parākramam ikṣvākuvṛṣabhāvekṣya yatasva dviṣatāṃ badhe “Considering your prowess, both divine and human, O bull of the Ikṣvākus, exert yourself in the slaying of your foes. **3.62.20** kiṃ te sarvavināśena kṛtena puruṣarṣabha tam eva tu ripuṃ pāpaṃ vijñāyoddhartum arhasi “What need have you of wreaking universal destruction, O bull among men? Rather, having found out that very wicked enemy, you should root him out.”