← 2.55.13 · Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa 55: Kausalyā reproaches Daśaratha · 2.55.15 →

Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.55.14

Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa, sarga 55: Kausalyā reproaches Daśaratha. She fears Rāma will reject Bharata’s former Kingdom even after returning, Daśaratha collapses and recalls his past wrongdoing

In the sequence: she fears that even after fourteen years he will refuse a Kingdom already enjoyed by Bharata

2.55.14

tathā hy āttam idaṃ rājyaṃ hṛtasārāṃ surām iva
nābhimantum alaṃ rāmo naṣṭasomam ivādhvaram

“So too Rāma will not deign to hanker after this kingdom, once taken by another, like liquor whose strength is drained, or a sacrifice whose soma is lost.

Words: tathā — so, likewise; hy — for, indeed; āttam — taken, seized; idaṃ — this; rājyaṃ — kingdom; hṛtasārāṃ — whose essence is drained; surām — liquor; iva — like; nābhimantum — not to hanker after, covet; alaṃ — able, deigning; rāmo — Rāma; naṣṭasomam — whose soma is lost; ivādhvaram — like a sacrifice

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.