Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa 57: Daśaratha’s arrow aimed at a sound · 2.57.2 →

Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.57.1

Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa, sarga 57: Daśaratha’s arrow aimed at a sound. He recalls mistaking a filling pot for an elephant and shooting a youth who directs him to his blind parents

In the sequence: Waking repeatedly in distress, Daśaratha begins a confession to Kausalyā at midnight on the sixth night

2.57.1

pratibuddho muhur tena śokopahatacetanaḥ
atha rājā daśarathaḥ sa cintām abhyapadyata

Awakened again and again by that grief, his mind stricken by sorrow, King Daśaratha then fell to brooding.

Words: pratibuddho — awakened; muhur — again and again; tena — by that; śokopahatacetanaḥ — his mind stricken by grief; atha — then; rājā — the king; daśarathaḥ — Daśaratha; sa — he; cintām — brooding, anxiety; abhyapadyata — fell into

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.