← 2.16.60 · Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa 16: Rāma accepts fourteen years of exile
Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.16.61
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.
2.16.61
praviśya veśmātibhṛśaṃ mudānvitaṃ samīkṣya tāṃ cārthavipattim āgatām
na caiva rāmo 'tra jagāma vikriyāṃ suhṛjjanasyātmavipattiśaṅkayā
Entering the dwelling filled with exceeding joy, and beholding the calamity that had befallen, Rāma yet betrayed no change there, for fear of bringing ruin upon his friends.
Words: praviśya — having entered; veśmātibhṛśaṃ — the dwelling exceedingly (joyful); mudānvitaṃ — filled with joy; samīkṣya — having beheld; tāṃ — that; cārthavipattim — and the calamity of fortune; āgatām — that had come, befallen; na — not; caiva — and even; rāmo — Rāma; 'tra — there; jagāma — went into, betrayed; vikriyāṃ — change, agitation; suhṛjjanasyātmavipattiśaṅkayā — from fear of ruin befalling his friends
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.