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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.58.53

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.

2.58.53

sadṛśaṃ śāradasyendoḥ phullasya kamalasya ca
sugandhi mama nāthasya dhanyā drakṣyanti tanmukham

Fortunate are they who will behold that face of my lord — like the autumn moon and a blooming lotus, and fragrant.

Words: sadṛśaṃ — like, resembling; śāradasyendoḥ — of the autumn moon; phullasya — of a blooming; kamalasya — of a lotus; ca — and; sugandhi — fragrant; mama — my; nāthasya — of the lord; dhanyā — fortunate; drakṣyanti — will see; tanmukham — that face

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.