← 2.57.7 · Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa 57: Daśaratha’s arrow aimed at a sound · 2.57.9 →
Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.57.8
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: he says that people reap the consequences of their actions and that acting without considering the result has brought him to this point.
2.57.8
labdhaśabdena kausalye kumāreṇa dhanuṣmatā
kumāraḥ śabdavedhīti mayā pāpam idaṃ kṛtam
tad idaṃ me 'nusaṃprāptaṃ devi duḥkhaṃ svayaṃ kṛtam
O Kausalyā, by me — a prince, a bow-bearing archer who had won renown, thinking 'the prince strikes by sound alone' — this sin was committed; and so this self-wrought sorrow, O queen, has now come upon me.
Words: labdhaśabdena — having won renown; kausalye — O Kausalyā; kumāreṇa — by the prince, youth; dhanuṣmatā — the bow-bearing archer; kumāraḥ — 'the prince; śabdavedhīti — is a shooter-by-sound'—thus; mayā — by me; pāpam — sin, evil; idaṃ — this; kṛtam — was done; tad — so, therefore; idaṃ — this; me — to me; 'nusaṃprāptaṃ — has come upon; devi — O queen; duḥkhaṃ — suffering, sorrow; svayaṃ — self, by oneself; kṛtam — wrought, done
Composed by Maharṣi Vālmīki. 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.