← 2.16.55 · Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa 16: Rāma accepts fourteen years of exile · 2.16.57 →
Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.16.56
Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa, sarga 16: Rāma accepts fourteen years of exile. Kaikeyī explains the boons, Rāma agrees, asks for Bharata’s return and leaves to speak to Kausalyā & Sītā
In the sequence: he bows to both parents, walks respectfully around them and the vessels prepared for his abhiṣeka, and leaves → Lakṣmaṇa follows in tears and anger, while Rāma controls his own grief and goes to his mother's still-celebrating household.
2.16.56
taṃ bāṣpaparipūrṇākṣaḥ pṛṣṭhato 'nujagāma ha
lakṣmaṇaḥ paramakruddhaḥ sumitrānandavardhanaḥ
Lakṣmaṇa, his eyes filled with tears, exceedingly angry, the increaser of Sumitrā's joy, followed him from behind.
Words: taṃ — him; bāṣpaparipūrṇākṣaḥ — his eyes filled with tears; pṛṣṭhato — from behind; 'nujagāma — followed; ha — indeed; lakṣmaṇaḥ — Lakṣmaṇa; paramakruddhaḥ — exceedingly angry; sumitrānandavardhanaḥ — increaser of Sumitrā's joy
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.