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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.37.11
Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa, sarga 37: Daśaratha loses sight of Rāma and rejects Kaikeyī. The chariot’s dust disappears, Daśaratha falls, rejects Kaikeyī’s touch and returns to Kausalyā as his sight fails
In the sequence: Kausalyā helps him up and leads him back as he stops along the chariot tracks
2.37.11
hatveva brāhmaṇaṃ kāmāt spṛṣṭvāgnim iva pāṇinā
anvatapyata dharmātmā putraṃ saṃcintya tāpasaṃ
Like one who has wantonly slain a brahmin, like one who has touched fire with his hand, the righteous king burned with remorse, brooding on his son turned ascetic.
Words: hatveva — as if having slain; brāhmaṇaṃ — a brahmin; kāmāt — wilfully, out of desire; spṛṣṭvāgnim — having touched fire; iva — as if, like; pāṇinā — with the hand; anvatapyata — burned with remorse, was tormented; dharmātmā — the righteous-souled; putraṃ — son; saṃcintya — having brooded on, thinking of; tāpasaṃ — (as) an ascetic
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.