Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa 51: Sumantra returns to Ayodhyā · 2.51.2 →
Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.51.1
Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa, sarga 51: Sumantra returns to Ayodhyā. Citizens surround the empty chariot, news of Rāma’s crossing renews their grief and Daśaratha collapses on receiving his message
In the sequence: The narrative turns back to Sumantra after the Gaṅgā crossing: Guha returns home, and the driver eventually sets out for Ayodhyā → after traveling through forests, rivers, and settlements, he reaches the city on the third evening of his journey
2.51.1
kathayitvā suduḥkhārtaḥ sumantreṇa ciraṃ saha
rāme dakṣiṇa kūlasthe jagāma svagṛhaṃ guhaḥ
Having conversed long with Sumantra, sorely stricken with grief, Guha—while Rāma was on the southern bank—went off to his own home.
Words: kathayitvā — having conversed, talked; suduḥkhārtaḥ — sorely stricken with grief; sumantreṇa — with Sumantra; ciraṃ — long, for a long while; saha — together with; rāme — when Rāma (loc. abs.); dakṣiṇa kūlasthe — being on the southern bank; jagāma — went; svagṛhaṃ — to his own home; guhaḥ — Guha
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.