← 2.54.19 · Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa 54: Sumantra comforts Kausalyā
Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.54.20
Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa, sarga 54: Sumantra comforts Kausalyā. He describes Lakṣmaṇa’s service and Sītā’s curiosity about the forest, but Kausalyā’s grief persists
In the sequence: he urges Kausalyā to take comfort in their determination to fulfill the promise → despite his reassurance, she continues to weep.
2.54.20
tathāpi sūtena suyuktavādinā nivāryamāṇā sutaśokakarśitā
na caiva devī virarāma kūjitāt priyeti putreti ca rāghaveti ca
na caiva devī virarāma kūjitāt
priyeti putreti ca rāghaveti ca
Yet, though restrained by the charioteer who spoke so aptly, the queen, wasted with grief for her son, did not cease from her wailing—“my dear! my son! O Rāghava!”
Words: tathāpi — yet, even so; sūtena — by the charioteer; suyuktavādinā — who spoke so fittingly; nivāryamāṇā — being restrained, checked; sutaśokakarśitā — wasted with grief for her son; na — not; caiva — and indeed; devī — the queen; virarāma — ceased, desisted; kūjitāt — from wailing, lamenting; priyeti — ‘my dear!’; putreti — ‘my son!’; ca — and; rāghaveti — ‘O Rāghava!’; ca — and
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.