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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.17.32
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.
2.17.32
yadi hy akāle maraṇaṃ svayecchayā labheta kaś cid guru duḥkha karśitaḥ
gatāham adyaiva pareta saṃsadaṃ vinā tvayā dhenur ivātmajena vai
If anyone worn down by heavy sorrow could obtain death untimely at their own will, then this very day, bereft of you as a cow of her calf, I would have gone to the assembly of the dead.
Words: yadi — if; hy — indeed; akāle — untimely; maraṇaṃ — death; svayecchayā — by (one's) own will; labheta — could obtain; kaś cid — anyone; guru — heavy; duḥkha — by sorrow; karśitaḥ — worn down, emaciated; gatāham — I would have gone; adyaiva — this very day; pareta saṃsadaṃ — to the assembly of the dead; vinā — without; tvayā — you; dhenur — a cow; ivātmajena — as (deprived) of her calf; vai — indeed
Composed by Maharṣi Vālmīki. 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.