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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.46.33

Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa, sarga 46: Rāma crosses the Gaṅgā. He sends Sumantra back as proof of departure, forms matted locks with banyan sap and crosses while Sītā prays

In the sequence: Sumantra pleads to stay: he cannot face returning with the empty chariot or telling Kausalyā where her son has gone

2.46.33

dainyaṃ hi nagarī gacched dṛṣṭvā śūnyam imaṃ ratham
sūtāvaśeṣaṃ svaṃ sainyaṃ hatavīram ivāhave

'For seeing this empty chariot, with only the driver left, the city would sink into wretchedness, like an army in battle whose hero has been slain.'

Words: dainyaṃ — wretchedness, misery; hi — for; nagarī — the city; gacched — would fall into; dṛṣṭvā — seeing; śūnyam — empty; imaṃ ratham — this chariot; sūtāvaśeṣaṃ — with only the driver remaining; svaṃ sainyaṃ — its own army; hatavīram — whose hero is slain; ivāhave — as in battle

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.