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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.58.18

Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa, sarga 58: The curse and Daśaratha’s death. The youth’s father condemns him to die grieving for a son, Daśaratha recalls the curse and dies calling for Rāma

In the sequence: the father said that the prince's ignorance and voluntary confession had spared him an immediate, greater punishment → he asked to be led to his son

2.58.18

sa tac chrutvā vacaḥ krūraṃ niḥśvasañ śokakarśitaḥ
mām uvāca mahātejāḥ kṛtāñjalim upasthitam

Hearing that cruel speech, sighing and worn with grief, the greatly-glorious one spoke to me as I stood by with joined palms.

Words: sa — he; tac — that; chrutvā — having heard; vacaḥ — speech; krūraṃ — cruel; niḥśvasañ — sighing; śokakarśitaḥ — worn with grief; mām — to me; uvāca — spoke; mahātejāḥ — the greatly glorious; kṛtāñjalim — with joined palms; upasthitam — standing near

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.