← 2.55.20 · Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa 55: Kausalyā reproaches Daśaratha
Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.55.21
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: accusing him of bringing ruin on the family and city, she intensifies his distress → he faints, and the memory of an earlier wrongdoing returns to him.
2.55.21
imāṃ giraṃ dāruṇaśabdasaṃśritāṃ niśamya rājāpi mumoha duḥkhitaḥ
tataḥ sa śokaṃ praviveśa pārthivaḥ svaduṣkṛtaṃ cāpi punas tadāsmarat
tataḥ sa śokaṃ praviveśa pārthivaḥ
svaduṣkṛtaṃ cāpi punas tadāsmarat
Hearing this speech couched in harsh words, the king too, grief-stricken, swooned away; then the sovereign sank into sorrow, and once more he called to mind his own past misdeed.
Words: imāṃ — this; giraṃ — speech, words; dāruṇaśabdasaṃśritāṃ — couched in harsh words; niśamya — having heard; rājāpi — the king too; mumoha — swooned, was bewildered; duḥkhitaḥ — grief-stricken; tataḥ — then; sa — he; śokaṃ — into sorrow; praviveśa — entered, sank into; pārthivaḥ — the sovereign, king; svaduṣkṛtaṃ — his own misdeed; cāpi — and also; punas — again; tadāsmarat — then remembered
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.