← 2.17.30 · Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa 17: Kausalyā learns of Rāma’s exile · 2.17.32 →
Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.17.31
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.
2.17.31
idaṃ tu duḥkhaṃ yad anarthakāni me vratāni dānāni ca saṃyamāś ca hi
tapaś ca taptaṃ yad apatyakāraṇāt suniṣphalaṃ bījam ivoptam ūṣare
But this is my grief: that my vows, my gifts, and my restraints have been fruitless, and that the austerity I performed for the sake of offspring is utterly barren, like seed sown in salt soil.
Words: idaṃ — this; tu — but; duḥkhaṃ — grief; yad — that; anarthakāni — fruitless, useless; me — my; vratāni — vows; dānāni — gifts; ca — and; saṃyamāś — restraints; ca — and; hi — indeed; tapaś — austerity; ca — and; taptaṃ — performed; yad — which; apatyakāraṇāt — for the sake of offspring; suniṣphalaṃ — utterly barren; bījam — seed; ivoptam — like sown; ūṣare — in barren salt soil
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.