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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.57.24

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: the wounded youth said he feared less for himself than for his blind, elderly parents, who depended entirely on him

2.57.24

tad etān mithunaṃ vṛddhaṃ cirakālabhṛtaṃ mayā
mayi pañcatvam āpanne kāṃ vṛttiṃ vartayiṣyati

'That aged pair, so long supported by me — when I have met my death, by what livelihood will they sustain themselves?'

Words: tad — so, therefore; etān — this; mithunaṃ — pair, couple; vṛddhaṃ — aged; cirakālabhṛtaṃ — supported for a long time; mayā — by me; mayi — when I ...; pañcatvam — death (reduction to the five elements); āpanne — having attained; kāṃ — what; vṛttiṃ — livelihood, means; vartayiṣyati — will (they) carry on, sustain

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.