Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa 17: Kausalyā learns of Rāma’s exile · 2.17.2 →

Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.17.1

Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa, sarga 17: Kausalyā learns of Rāma’s exile. Rāma tells Kausalyā that Bharata will inherit and he must leave, she collapses and laments their separation

In the sequence: Rāma and Lakṣmaṇa enter Kausalyā's apartments, where she has been praying and making offerings for his welfare

2.17.1

rāmas tu bhṛśam āyasto niḥśvasann iva kuñjaraḥ
jagāma sahito bhrātrā mātur antaḥpuraṃ vaśī

But Rāma, deeply distressed, sighing like an elephant, self-controlled, went with his brother to his mother's apartments.

Words: rāmas — Rāma; tu — but; bhṛśam — deeply; āyasto — distressed; niḥśvasann — sighing; iva — like; kuñjaraḥ — an elephant; jagāma — went; sahito — together; bhrātrā — with (his) brother; mātur — of (his) mother; antaḥpuraṃ — the inner apartments; vaśī — self-controlled

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.