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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.38.16

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

2.38.16

niḥsaṃśayaṃ mayā manye purā vīra kadaryayā
pātu kāmeṣu vatseṣu mātṝṇāṃ śātitāḥ stanāḥ

Without doubt, O hero, I think that in a former life I, being cruel, cut off the udders of mother-cows while their calves longed to drink.

Words: niḥsaṃśayaṃ — without doubt; mayā — by me; manye — I think; purā — formerly, of old; vīra — O hero; kadaryayā — by (me) being miserly, cruel; pātu kāmeṣu — desiring to drink; vatseṣu — among the calves; mātṝṇāṃ — of the mother-cows; śātitāḥ — cut off, severed; stanāḥ — the udders, teats

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.