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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.55.5
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 contrasts Sītā's former food and music with wild grain and the sounds of predators
2.55.5
bhuktvāśanaṃ viśālākṣī sūpadaṃśānvitaṃ śubham
vanyaṃ naivāram āhāraṃ kathaṃ sītopabhokṣyate
“The wide-eyed one, used to eating fine food furnished with broths and relishes—how will Sītā feed on wild wild-rice fare?
Words: bhuktvāśanaṃ — used to eating (fine) food; viśālākṣī — the wide-eyed lady; sūpadaṃśānvitaṃ — furnished with broths and relishes; śubham — fine, choice; vanyaṃ — wild, of the forest; naivāram — of wild rice; āhāraṃ — food, fare; kathaṃ — how; sītopabhokṣyate — will Sītā eat, partake of
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.