← 2.52.25 · Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa 52: Sumantra reports the farewells

Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.52.26

Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa, sarga 52: Sumantra reports the farewells. Rāma asks Bharata to care for the family, Lakṣmaṇa condemns the banishment and Sītā stands silently in tears

In the sequence: Sumantra says Sītā spoke no word to him; she stood in tears, looking toward her husband and then the chariot.

2.52.26

tathaiva rāmo 'śrumukhaḥ kṛtāñjaliḥ sthito 'bhaval lakṣmaṇabāhupālitaḥ
tathaiva sītā rudatī tapasvinī nirīkṣate rājarathaṃ tathaiva mām

Even so Rāma, his face wet with tears, his palms joined, stood there guarded by Lakṣmaṇa's arm; and even so poor weeping Sītā gazed after the royal chariot, and after me too.

Words: tathaiva — even so, just so; rāmo — Rāma; 'śrumukhaḥ — with tearful face; kṛtāñjaliḥ — with palms joined; sthito — stood; 'bhaval — became; lakṣmaṇabāhupālitaḥ — guarded by Lakṣmaṇa's arm; tathaiva — even so; sītā — Sītā; rudatī — weeping; tapasvinī — poor, hapless; nirīkṣate — gazes at, watches; rājarathaṃ — the royal chariot; tathaiva — and just so; mām — me

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.