← 2.35.37 · Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa 35: The chariot departs
Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.35.38
Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa, sarga 35: The chariot departs. Sumitrā counsels Lakṣmaṇa, crowds and parents follow, Daśaratha calls for a halt while Rāma urges Sumantra onward
In the sequence: Daśaratha calls for the chariot to stop, while Rāma tells Sumantra to continue → unable to bear prolonging his parents' suffering, Rāma tells the driver to say he did not hear if the King later reproaches him → Sumantra drives on, and the ministers persuade Daśaratha to stop following.
2.35.38
teṣāṃ vacaḥ sarvaguṇopapannaṃ prasvinnagātraḥ praviṣaṇṇarūpaḥ
niśamya rājā kṛpaṇaḥ sabhāryo vyavasthitas taṃ sutam īkṣamāṇaḥ
Having heard their word, endowed with every virtue, the wretched king, his body drenched with sweat and his form utterly dejected, stood there with his wives, gazing after that son.
Words: teṣāṃ — of them, their; vacaḥ — word; sarvaguṇopapannaṃ — endowed with every virtue; prasvinnagātraḥ — with body drenched in sweat; praviṣaṇṇarūpaḥ — of utterly dejected form; niśamya — having heard; rājā — the king; kṛpaṇaḥ — wretched, pitiable; sabhāryo — with his wife/wives; vyavasthitas — stood, remained; taṃ — that; sutam — son; īkṣamāṇaḥ — gazing at, looking after
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.