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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.55.8

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 longs to see Rāma and wonders how her heart has survived the separation

2.55.8

padmavarṇaṃ sukeśāntaṃ padmaniḥśvāsam uttamam
kadā drakṣyāmi rāmasya vadanaṃ puṣkarekṣaṇam

“When shall I behold Rāma's peerless face, lotus-hued, with lovely hair-ends, lotus-fragrant of breath, and lotus-eyed?

Words: padmavarṇaṃ — lotus-hued; sukeśāntaṃ — with beautiful hair-ends; padmaniḥśvāsam — lotus-fragrant of breath; uttamam — supreme, peerless; kadā — when; drakṣyāmi — shall I see; rāmasya — of Rāma; vadanaṃ — the face; puṣkarekṣaṇam — lotus-eyed

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.