Canto 2: Ayodhyā-kāṇḍa ()Chapter 63: Daśaratha Remembering Killing a Sage’s Innocent SonText 2.63.11
Canto 2 -
Ayodhyā-kāṇḍa
Chapter 63: Daśaratha Remembering Killing a Sage’s Innocent Son
Text 2.63.11
लब्धशब्देन कौसल्ये कुमारेण धनुष्मता।
कुमारः शब्दवेधीति मया पापमिदं कृतम्॥
labdha-śabdena kausalye kumāreṇa dhanuṣmatā
kumāraḥ śabda-vedhīti mayā pāpam idaṁ kṛtam
labdha-śabdena = I had attained the reputation; kausalye = Kausalyā; kumāreṇa dhanuṣmatā = I was a young archer [then]; kumāraḥ = boy; śabda-vedhī iti = of being a śabda-vedhī; mayā = I; pāpam = sinful activity [at that time]; idam = the following; kṛtam = committed.
Kausalyā, I was a young archer [then]. I had attained the reputation of being a śabda-vedhī boy. I committed the following sinful activity [at that time].
He now begins to recount the original cause of his current distress. The sinful activity is his killing of the son of a sage.
This verse also means: “Kausalyā, with the conceit of being a young śabda-vedhī archer, I followed the sound of a sage’s son that resembled the sound of an elephant and committed the following sinful activity of killing the son of a sage.”