अनुशिष्टोऽस्म्ययोध्यायां गुरुमध्ये महात्मना। पित्रा दशरथेनाहं नावज्ञेयं हि तद्वच:।।1.26.3।।
Meaning
My great-souled father Dasharatha instructed me before the elders in Ayodhya; that word of his too cannot be disregarded.
Word-by-word (pada-artha)
| Word | Devanagari | Meaning | Grammatical role |
|---|---|---|---|
| anuśiṣṭaḥ asmi ayodhyāyām | अनुशिष्टः अस्मि अयोध्यायाम् | I was instructed in Ayodhya | Nominative singular / Verb (present) |
| guru-madhye mahā-ātmanā | गुरु-मध्ये महा-आत्मना | in the midst of elders, by the great-souled one | Locative singular / Instrumental |
| pitrā daśarathena aham | पित्रा दशरथेन अहम् | by my father Dasharatha, I | Instrumental singular |
| na avajñeyam hi tat vacaḥ | न अवज्ञेयम् हि तत् वचः | that word is indeed not to be disregarded | Nominative singular (gerundive) |
Scholar commentary
valmikiramayan.net Prose Commentary
Desiraju Hanumanta Rao's prose rendering with embedded explanatory notes
The source flags a real dilemma buried in this verse: Dasharatha instructed Rama, before the Ayodhya court, to obey whatever Vishvamitra asked -- but Vishvamitra's actual request (killing a female demon) is itself morally ambiguous, so Rama is caught between two elders' instructions that don't cleanly resolve into a single obvious duty.
1 of 16 traditions have commentary on this shloka. Traditions without a verse-specific commentary here are omitted rather than filled in.
Reference: 1.26.3 · Bāla Kāṇḍa