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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.58.49

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.

2.58.49

cakṣuṣā tvāṃ na paśyāmi smṛtir mama vilupyate
dūtā vaivasvatasyaite kausalye tvarayanti mām

With my eyes I cannot see you; my memory is being torn away. These messengers of Vaivasvata (Yama), O Kausalyā, are hurrying me on.

Words: cakṣuṣā — with the eye; tvāṃ — you; na — not; paśyāmi — I see; smṛtir — memory; mama — my; vilupyate — is torn away, fails; dūtā — messengers; vaivasvatasyaite — these of Vaivasvata (Yama); kausalye — O Kausalyā; tvarayanti — hasten, hurry; mām — me

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.