← 2.106.16 · Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa 106: Bharata returns without Rāma · 2.106.18 →
Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.106.17
Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa, sarga 106: Bharata returns without Rāma. Ayodhyā resembles an extinguished fire and deserted altar, he laments its emptiness and reaches Daśaratha’s residence
In the sequence: the narrative pauses over its emptiness through a series of comparisons: an extinguished fire, a defeated army, an abandoned altar, a damaged watering place, and a sky without its familiar lights
2.106.17
sahasā yuddhaśauṇḍena hayāroheṇa vāhitām
nikṣiptabhāṇḍām utsṛṣṭāṃ kiśorīm iva durbalām
like a weak young mare ridden hard all at once by a battle-avid horseman, then, its trappings cast off, turned loose;
Words: sahasā — violently, all at once; yuddhaśauṇḍena — by a battle-avid one; hayāroheṇa — by a horseman; vāhitām — driven hard; nikṣiptabhāṇḍām — with its trappings laid aside; utsṛṣṭāṃ — turned loose; kiśorīm iva — like a filly; durbalām — weak
Composed by Maharṣi Vālmīki, the ādikavi of the ādikāvya: the first poet of the first poem. Sanskrit: The Vālmīki-Rāmāyaṇa: Critical Edition, Oriental Institute, Baroda, 1960–1975 (gen. eds. G. H. Bhatt, U. P. Shah); IAST from GRETIL (Göttingen). Translation and word glosses: Claude Opus 4.6–4.7; summaries and sequences: ChatGPT Astra (machine-made). Numbering follows the Critical Edition, not the vulgate (e.g. Gita Press, valmikiramayan.net), so sarga and verse numbers can differ from those editions.