← 2.58.2 · Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa 58: The curse and Daśaratha’s death · 2.58.4 →

Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.58.3

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: Continuing the account, Daśaratha says he took the water pot to the hermitage

2.58.3

tatrāhaṃ durbalāv andhau vṛddhāv apariṇāyakau
apaśyaṃ tasya pitarau lūnapakṣāv iva dvijau

There I saw his parents, feeble, blind, aged, and without a guide, like two birds with their wings clipped.

Words: tatrāhaṃ — there I; durbalāv — feeble (both); andhau — blind (both); vṛddhāv — aged (both); apariṇāyakau — without a guide (both); apaśyaṃ — I saw; tasya — his; pitarau — the two parents; lūnapakṣāv — with wings clipped; iva — like; dvijau — two birds

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.