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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.21.5

Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa, sarga 21: Rāma asks Kausalyā to remain with Daśaratha. Kausalyā asks to follow Rāma, he persuades her to remain and care for the grieving Daśaratha

In the sequence: she says she will follow him like a cow following her calf → Rāma replies that Daśaratha may not survive if she abandons him too

2.21.5

tvayā vihīnām iha māṃ śokāgnir atulo mahān
pradhakṣyati yathā kakṣaṃ citrabhānur himātyaye

Bereft of you here, me the great and matchless fire of grief will burn up, as fire consumes dry brushwood at winter's end.

Words: tvayā — by you, of you; vihīnām — bereft, deprived; iha — here; māṃ — me; śokāgnir — the fire of grief; atulo — matchless, incomparable; mahān — great; pradhakṣyati — will burn up; yathā — as; kakṣaṃ — dry brushwood, grass; citrabhānur — fire (the bright-rayed one); himātyaye — at winter's end

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.