---
title: "Ayodhya Kanda, Sarga 108"
canonical: "https://ramayana.com/valmiki-ramayana/ayodhya-kanda/sarga-108"
lang: "en"
---

# Ayodhya Kanda, Sarga 108

> आश्वासयन्तं भरतं जाबालिर्ब्राह्मणोत्तमः।  
> उवाच रामं धर्मज्ञं धर्मापेतमिदं वचः॥ १॥

To Śrī Rāma, the knower of what is right, who was comforting Bharata, Jābāli, a jewel among Brāhmaṇas, addressed the following words contrary to the Vedic religion : (1)

> साधु राघव मा भूत् ते बुद्धिरेवं निरर्थिका।  
> प्राकृतस्य नरस्येव ह्यार्यबुद्धेस्तपस्विनः॥ २॥

“You have spoken aright, O scion of Raghu; but such a vain resolution, akin to that of an ordinary man, ought not to have been made by you, who are endowed with a noble understanding and given to austerities. (2)

> कः कस्य पुरुषो बन्धुः किमाप्यं कस्य केनचित्।  
> एको हि जायते जन्तुरेक एव विनश्यति॥ ३॥

“No man is the friend of anyone, nor is anything to be gained by anyone through anyone; for, alone is a creature born and alone does it perish. (3)

> तस्मान्माता पिता चेति राम सज्जेत यो नरः।  
> उन्मत्त इव स ज्ञेयो नास्ति कश्चिद्धि कस्यचित्॥ ४॥

“Therefore, the man who feels attached to anyone believing that the latter is his mother or father, O Rāma, should be reckoned on a par with a madman; for none is related to another. (4)

> यथा ग्रामान्तरं गच्छन् नरः कश्चिद् बहिर्वसेत्।  
> उत्सृज्य च तमावासं प्रतिष्ठेतापरेऽहनि॥ ५॥  
> एवमेव मनुष्याणां पिता माता गृहं वसु।  
> आवासमात्रं काकुत्स्थ सज्जन्ते नात्र सज्जनाः॥ ६॥

“As while journeying to another distant village a man stays abroad in the course of his journey and, leaving that resting place behind, proceeds further the next day, even so, to men a father, mother, home and wealth are only a temporary shelter, O Rāma (a scion of Kakutstha); the wise do not get attached to these. (5-6)

> पित्र्यं राज्यं समुत्सृज्य स नार्हसि नरोत्तम।  
> आस्थातुं कापथं दुःखं विषमं बहुकण्टकम्॥ ७॥

“Relinquishing the kingdom of Ayodhyā, inherited from your father, O jewel among men, you as such ought not to tread the wrong path, which is painful, rugged and bristling with thorns. (7)

> समृद्धायामयोध्यायामात्मानमभिषेचय।  
> एकवेणीधरा हि त्वा नगरी सम्प्रतीक्षते॥ ८॥

“Get yourself consecrated on the throne of the prosperous Ayodhyā; for the city eagerly awaits your return like a widow who wears a single braid of hair as a sign of mourning and desolation. (8)

> राजभोगाननुभवन् महार्हान् पार्थिवात्मज।  
> विहर त्वमयोध्यायां यथा शक्रस्त्रिविष्टपे॥ ९॥

“Enjoying kingly delights of great value, O prince, sport you in Ayodhyā as Indra does in heaven. (9)

> न ते कश्चिद् दशरथस्त्वं च तस्य च कश्चन।  
> अन्यो राजा त्वमन्यस्तु तस्मात् कुरु यदुच्यते॥ १०॥

“Daśaratha was none to you nor were you related in anyway to him. The king was not you, while you are not the king Daśaratha; therefore do what is recommended to you. (10)

> बीजमात्रं पिता जन्तोः शुक्रं शोणितमेव च।  
> संयुक्तमृतुमन्मात्रा पुरुषस्येह जन्म तत्॥ ११॥

“The father is only an efficient cause of a creature; it is only the sperm and the ovum conjointly retained by a prospective mother during the nights favourable for conception that constitute the material cause of a human being in this world. (11)

> गतः स नृपतिस्तत्र गन्तव्यं यत्र तेन वै।  
> प्रवृत्तिरेषा भूतानां त्वं तु मिथ्या विहन्यसे॥ १२॥

“The aforesaid king has departed to the destination where he was bound to go, viz., back to the five elements, from which he had sprung up. Such is the natural way of created beings, while you are being harassed for no purpose.” (12)

> अर्थधर्मपरा ये ये तांस्तान् शोचामि नेतरान्।  
> ते हि दुःखमिह प्राप्य विनाशं प्रेत्य लेभिरे॥ १३॥

“I bewail only those whosoever are devoted to wealth and religious merit, not others, who are devoted to sense-enjoyment alone; for having undergone suffering in this life for the sake of wealth and religious merit, they have met with extermination even after death. (13)

> अष्टकापितृदेवत्यमित्ययं प्रसृतो जनः।  
> अन्नस्योपद्रवं पश्य मृतो हि किमशिष्यति॥ १४॥

“People here have taken to Śrāddha and other allied rites under the belief that Aṣṭakā, (a Śrāddha performed on the seventh, eighth and ninth days of the dark fortnights of the lunar months of Pauṣa, Māgha and Phālguna respectively) and other Śrāddhas are calculated to gratify the manes. Look at the wanton waste of food involved in these rites; for what will a dead man eat? (14)

> यदि भुक्तमिहान्येन देहमन्यस्य गच्छति।  
> दद्यात् प्रवसतां श्राद्धं न तत् पथ्यशनं भवेत्॥ १५॥

“If the food eaten by one man here reaches the body of another in the other world, one might as well offer Śrāddha to those travelling from home; no provisions for journey should be necessary for them. (15)

> दानसंवनना ह्येते ग्रन्था मेधाविभिः कृताः।  
> यजस्व देहि दीक्षस्व तपस्तप्यस्व संत्यज॥ १६॥

“Enjoining us to worship gods, make gifts, get ourselves consecrated for a sacrificial performance, practise austerities and renounce our hearth and home, these books have been written by talented men with a view to exalting charity. (16)

> स नास्ति परमित्येतत् कुरु बुद्धिं महामते।  
> प्रत्यक्षं यत् तदातिष्ठ परोक्षं पृष्ठतः कुरु॥ १७॥

“Having known this truth, O highly intelligent prince, arrive at the conclusion that there is nothing beyond this visible universe. Depend upon that which meets the eye; discard that which is outside the ken of your senses. (17)

> सतां बुद्धिं पुरस्कृत्य सर्वलोकनिदर्शिनीम्।  
> राज्यं स त्वं निगृह्णीष्व भरतेन प्रसादितः॥ १८॥

“Respecting the judgment of the wise who believe that alone which meets the eye to be true—which serves as an authority for all men and propitiated by Bharata, accept you the kingdom.” (18)

Book: https://ramayana.com/valmiki-ramayana

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