Filial Obedience Is Praised beyond Calculation
Ayodhya Kanda, Doha 174
Doha 174 · Movement 2 of 2
Keep this contemplation
Preserve, print, or share
Vasishtha speaks of those who set aside the weighing of proper and improper when a father's command is clear. Their obedience receives the burden before self interest can reshape it.
Such children become vessels of happiness and noble fame, dwelling at last within Indra's court. The tradition praises surrender to parental word as a path of sacred consequence.
For Bharata, however, the verse sharpens a conflict rather than ending one. Obedience appears to require accepting the very kingdom his love cannot touch. The principle is luminous, but its application passes through a heart that sees Ram's exile whenever it looks toward the throne.
The glory of a father's word shines before Bharata, yet its light falls upon the one object his heart cannot accept.
Read the passage from the Manas
अनुचित उचित बिचारु तजि जे पालहिं पितु बैन। ते भाजन सुख सुजस के बसहिं अमरपति ऐन।।174।।
Those who set aside all weighing of right and wrong and simply follow their father's word; they become vessels of happiness and noble fame, dwelling in the very court of Indra.