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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.47.23

Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa, sarga 47: Rāma grieves and asks Lakṣmaṇa to return. Rāma fears for his parents and asks Lakṣmaṇa to return, Lakṣmaṇa refuses to leave him and steadies his resolve

In the sequence: he reproaches himself for bringing his mother sorrow when she had expected happiness from him

2.47.23

śocantyāś cālpabhāgyāyā na kiṃ cid upakurvatā
purtreṇa kim aputrāyā mayā kāryam ariṃdama

Of what use, O tamer of foes, is a son like me — who does nothing to help — to my grieving, ill-fated mother, who is as good as sonless?

Words: śocantyāś — of (her) grieving; cālpabhāgyāyā — and of ill fortune; na — not; kiṃ — any(thing); cid — at all; upakurvatā — by (a son) doing help; purtreṇa — by a son; kim — what (use); aputrāyā — of (her who is as good as) sonless; mayā — by me; kāryam — purpose, use; ariṃdama — O tamer of foes

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.