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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.58.48

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: Returning to the present, Daśaratha tells Kausalyā that the curse has now reached him → he longs for one final touch from Rāma, but his sight and memory begin to fail → he imagines the fortunate people who will see his son return after the exile → calling for Rāma, he dies at midnight.

2.58.48

yadi māṃ saṃspṛśed rāmaḥ sakṛd adyālabheta vā
na tan me sadṛśaṃ devi yan mayā rāghave kṛtam

If only Rāma would touch me once today, or lay his hand upon me — yet that is not my due, O queen, considering what I did to Rāghava.

Words: yadi — if; māṃ — me; saṃspṛśed — would touch; rāmaḥ — Rāma; sakṛd — once; adyālabheta — would touch/handle today; vā — or; na — not; tan — that; me — for me; sadṛśaṃ — fitting, my due; devi — O queen; yan — what; mayā — by me; rāghave — to Rāghava (Rāma); kṛtam — was done

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.