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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.17.21

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: she explains that she had endured neglect as a wife by hoping for happiness through her son, but now fears humiliation and isolation among her co-wives

2.17.21

eka eva hi vandhyāyāḥ śoko bhavati mānavaḥ
aprajāsmīti saṃtāpo na hy anyaḥ putra vidyate

For a barren woman there is but one human grief — the anguish, 'I am childless'; no other, my son, exists.

Words: eka — one; eva — only; hi — for; vandhyāyāḥ — of a barren woman; śoko — grief; bhavati — is; mānavaḥ — human; aprajāsmīti — "I am childless"; saṃtāpo — the anguish; na — not; hy — indeed; anyaḥ — other; putra — O son; vidyate — exists

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.