The Ramayana’s killing of Shambuka shows varna order requires capital punishment.

Evidence

That without penal sanction the ideal of chaturvarnya cannot be realised is proved by the story in the Ramayana of Rama killing Shambuka. Some people seem to blame Rama because he wantonly and without reason killed Shambuka. But to blame Rama for killing Shambuka is to misunderstand the whole situation. Ram Raj was a raj based on chaturvarnya. As a king, Rama was bound to maintain chaturvarnya. It was his duty therefore to kill Shambuka, the Shudra who had transgressed his class and wanted to be a Brahmin. — Ambedkar, B R, Annihilation of Caste_ The Annotated…, 920

Categorization

Category: Factual Claims

• XREF: Connects directly to the reader’s purpose: Ambedkar uses scripture to prove that even the idealised Ram Raj is built on violent enforcement of hierarchy, undermining varna as benign.

Related

• Preserving the four-class system requires penal sanctions, even death. (similarity 0.86)
• The Ramayana’s Shambuka myth justifies killing Shudras who seek spiritual advancement (similarity 0.86)

Broader Connections

• Rama beheaded the Shudra Shambuka for seeking higher status #exemplifies (0.85)