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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.36.8

Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa, sarga 36: Ayodhyā falls into mourning. Palace women lament, offerings and daily activity cease, animals refuse food and the city loses its joy

In the sequence: their cries deepen Daśaratha's grief → normal activity breaks down: offerings are neglected, animals refuse food or fail to nurse their young, and ominous changes appear in the sky

2.36.8

sa tam antaḥpure ghoram ārtaśabdaṃ mahīpatiḥ
putraśokābhisaṃtaptaḥ śrutvā cāsīt suduḥkhitaḥ

And that lord of the earth, hearing that terrible cry of distress in the inner apartments, burning with grief for his son, became sorely afflicted.

Words: sa — he; tam — that; antaḥpure — in the inner apartments; ghoram — terrible; ārtaśabdaṃ — cry of distress; mahīpatiḥ — lord of the earth (king); putraśokābhisaṃtaptaḥ — burning with grief for his son; śrutvā — having heard; cāsīt — and became; suduḥkhitaḥ — sorely grieved

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.