The King Sees the Law of Consequence Reversed
Ayodhya Kanda, Doha 77
Doha 77 · Movement 2 of 2
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Dasharatha knows the ordinary rule: the doer receives the fruit of the deed. Yet the chamber before him seems to overturn that moral order.
One person commits the offence while another suffers the consequence. Kaikeyi demands, Ram accepts, and the king feels the punishment enter every innocent heart.
He calls the ways of the Lord unfathomable. The statement is not philosophical distance but bewildered surrender before a pattern he cannot read. No answer is offered in the moment. Dharma remains true, yet its present unfolding lies beyond the grieving father's power to understand.
Dasharatha bows before a law he believes, even as its present fruit appears to fall upon the innocent.
Read the passage from the Manas
औरु करै अपराधु कोउ और पाव फल भोगु। अति बिचित्र भगवंत गति को जग जानै जोगु।।77।।
Here the rule is reversed: one person commits the offense, another suffers the consequence. The ways of the Lord are deeply mysterious. Who in this world is fit to understand them?