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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.52.4

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: After reviving, Daśaratha asks Sumantra how the travelers will eat, sleep, and survive in the forest

2.52.4

kva nu vatsyati dharmātmā vṛkṣamūlam upāśritaḥ
so 'tyantasukhitaḥ sūta kim aśiṣyati rāghavaḥ
bhūmipālātmajo bhūmau śete katham anāthavat

'Where will the righteous one dwell, sheltering at the foot of a tree? That Rāghava, so utterly used to comfort—what, charioteer, will he eat? How does the son of the earth's guardian lie upon the bare ground like one forlorn?'

Words: kva — where; nu — now, indeed; vatsyati — will dwell; dharmātmā — the righteous-souled; vṛkṣamūlam — the foot of a tree; upāśritaḥ — sheltering, resorting to; so 'tyantasukhitaḥ — he, so utterly used to comfort; sūta — O charioteer; kim — what; aśiṣyati — will eat; rāghavaḥ — Rāghava; bhūmipālātmajo — the son of the earth's guardian; bhūmau — on the ground; śete — lies; katham — how; anāthavat — like one forlorn, masterless

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.