← 2.42.25 · Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa 42: The citizens return to Ayodhyā without Rāma

Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.42.26

Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa, sarga 42: The citizens return to Ayodhyā without Rāma. Families reproach the men for returning without Rāma and imagine abandoning Kaikeyī’s Kingdom to join him

In the sequence: throughout the city, people mourn Rāma as someone dearer than their own children.

2.42.26

tathā striyo rāmanimittam āturā yathā sute bhrātari vā vivāsite
vilapya dīnā rurudur vicetasaḥ sutair hi tāsām adhiko hi so 'bhavat

So distressed were the women on Rāma's account—as though a son or a brother had been sent into exile—that, wretched and beside themselves, they lamented and wept aloud; for to them he was dearer even than their own sons.

Words: tathā — so; striyo — the women; rāmanimittam — on Rāma's account; āturā — distressed; yathā — as though; sute — a son; bhrātari — a brother; vā — or; vivāsite — being exiled; vilapya — having lamented; dīnā — wretched; rurudur — wept aloud; vicetasaḥ — beside themselves, senseless; sutair — than sons; hi — for; tāsām — to them; adhiko — greater, dearer; hi — indeed; so — he; 'bhavat — was

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.