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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.38.15

Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa, sarga 38: Kausalyā imagines Rāma’s return. Fearing Kaikeyī and the hardships facing Rāma, Sītā & Lakṣmaṇa, she longs for her son’s homecoming and embrace

In the sequence: she longs for Rāma to approach and embrace her as he did when he was a child → she wonders whether separation from her son repays some past cruelty of her own

2.38.15

kadā pariṇato buddhyā vayasā cāmaraprabhaḥ
abhyupaiṣyati dharmajñas trivarṣa iva māṃ lalan

When shall the righteous one, matured in understanding and in years, and radiant as an immortal, come to me caressing me like a three-year-old child?

Words: kadā — when; pariṇato — matured, developed; buddhyā — in understanding; vayasā — in age, years; cāmaraprabhaḥ — and of immortal radiance; abhyupaiṣyati — will come near, approach; dharmajñas — the knower of dharma; trivarṣa — a three-year-old; iva — like, as; māṃ — me; lalan — caressing, fondling

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.