← 2.12.8 · Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa 12: Daśaratha summons Rāma · 2.12.10 →

Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.12.9

Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa, sarga 12: Daśaratha summons Rāma. Kaikeyī insists on the promise, Daśaratha repudiates her & Bharata, Sumantra leaves unaware of the exile

In the sequence: unable to escape the promise, Daśaratha renounces both her and her son

2.12.9

udbhrāntahṛdayaś cāpi vivarṇavanado 'bhavat
sa dhuryo vai parispandan yugacakrāntaraṃ yathā

His heart grew distracted and his face turned pale; he was like a yoke-ox trembling between the yoke and the wheel.

Words: udbhrāntahṛdayaś — with distraught heart; cāpi — and also; vivarṇavanado — pale of face; 'bhavat — became; sa — he; dhuryo — a draught-ox, yoke-bearer; vai — indeed; parispandan — quivering, struggling; yugacakrāntaraṃ — between the yoke and the wheel; yathā — like

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.