Canto 2: Ayodhyā-kāṇḍa ()Chapter 63: Daśaratha Remembering Killing a Sage’s Innocent SonText 2.63.29
Canto 2 -
Ayodhyā-kāṇḍa
Chapter 63: Daśaratha Remembering Killing a Sage’s Innocent Son
Text 2.63.29
ऋषेर्हि न्यस्तदण्डस्य वने वन्येन जीवतः।
कथं नु शस्त्रेण वधो मद्विधस्य विधीयते॥
ṛṣer hi nyasta-daṇḍasya vane vanyena jīvataḥ
katham nu śastreṇa vadho mad-vidhasya vidhīyate
ṛṣeḥ hi = sage; nyasta-daṇḍasya = I have given up all forms of violence; vane = in the forest; vanyena jīvataḥ = and I live subsisting on forest produce alone; katham nu = why is; śastreṇa = by a weapon; vadhaḥ = killed; mat-vidhasya = like me; vidhīyate1 = being.
“Why is a sage like me being killed by a weapon? I have given up all forms of violence and I live in the forest subsisting on forest produce alone.
1 Technical note: katham mat-vidhasya ṛṣeḥ vadhaḥ vidhīyate.
Nyasta daṇḍasya indicates that this ascetic had stopped all forms of violence—those executed through speech, mind or body 2.