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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.37.12

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

2.37.12

nivṛtyaiva nivṛtyaiva sīdato rathavartmasu
rājño nātibabhau rūpaṃ grastasyāṃśumato yathā

Turning back again and again, sinking down upon the chariot-tracks, the king's appearance shone but dimly, like that of the eclipsed sun.

Words: nivṛtyaiva — turning back, indeed; nivṛtyaiva — again turning back; sīdato — of him sinking down; rathavartmasu — on the chariot-tracks; rājño — of the king; nātibabhau — did not shine much, shone dimly; rūpaṃ — form, appearance; grastasyāṃśumato — of the seized (eclipsed) sun; yathā — as, like

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.