Canto 2: Ayodhyā-kāṇḍa ()Chapter 111: Rāma Agrees to Accept the Throne After Returning to AyodhyāText 2.111.29
Canto 2 -
Ayodhyā-kāṇḍa
Chapter 111: Rāma Agrees to Accept the Throne After Returning to Ayodhyā
Text 2.111.29
उपधिर्न मया कार्यो वनवासे जुगुप्सितः।
युक्तमुक्तं च कैकेय्या पित्रा मे सुकृतं कृतम्॥
upadhir na mayā kāryo vana-vāse jugupsitaḥ
yuktam uktaṁ ca kaikeyyā pitrā me sukṛtaṁ kṛtam
upadhiḥ = a substitute; na mayā kāryaḥ = I will not accept; vana-vāse = for the purpose of residing in the forest; jugupsitaḥ = it is abominable; yuktam = properly; uktam = has spoken; ca = and; kaikeyyā = Kaikeyī-devī; pitrā = father; me = My; sukṛtam kṛtam = has behaved in accordance with dharma.
I will not accept a substitute. It is abominable for the purpose of residing in the forest. Kaikeyī-devī has spoken properly and My father has behaved in accordance with dharma.
If one is incapable of taking bath with water, he can take bath by chanting [certain] mantras. [The scriptural allowance for] accepting a substitute [to carry out prescribed duties] is like that. Rāma indicates here that He was capable of residing in the forest and therefore He would not accept a substitute to clear His father.
A person who uses a substitute when he is capable is condemned 1. Rāma intended to tell Bharata, “If We don’t carry out Our father’s instruction or if I use a substitute, Our father would still be deemed untruthful.”