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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.17.30
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 laments that her fasting, gifts, and prayers have brought no relief and wishes she could die rather than lose him.
2.17.30
sthiraṃ hi nūnaṃ hṛdayaṃ mamāyasaṃ na bhidyate yad bhuvi nāvadīryate
anena duḥkhena ca deham arpitaṃ dhruvaṃ hy akāle maraṇaṃ na vidyate
Surely my heart must be firm, made of iron, since it does not break nor fall shattered to the ground; and though my body is given over to this grief, surely there is no dying before one's time.
Words: sthiraṃ — firm; hi — indeed; nūnaṃ — surely; hṛdayaṃ — heart; mamāyasaṃ — my iron (one); na — not; bhidyate — breaks; yad — since; bhuvi — on the ground; nāvadīryate — nor is shattered; anena — by this; duḥkhena — grief; ca — and; deham — the body; arpitaṃ — given over, delivered; dhruvaṃ — surely; hy — indeed; akāle — untimely; maraṇaṃ — death; na — not; 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.