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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.38.8

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 worries about the young travelers, raised in comfort and sent into hardship just when Rāma was about to receive the Kingdom

2.38.8

te ratnahīnās taruṇāḥ phalakāle vivāsitāḥ
kathaṃ vatsyanti kṛpaṇāḥ phalamūlaiḥ kṛtāśanāḥ

Deprived of their jewels, young, banished at the very time of their reward, how will they dwell, poor souls, making their meal of fruits and roots?

Words: te — they; ratnahīnās — deprived of jewels; taruṇāḥ — young; phalakāle — at the time of fruition, reward; vivāsitāḥ — banished, exiled; kathaṃ — how; vatsyanti — will they dwell; kṛpaṇāḥ — wretched, poor; phalamūlaiḥ — with fruits and roots; kṛtāśanāḥ — making their food, subsisting

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.