← 2.63.3 · Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa 63: Bharata’s ominous dream · 2.63.5 →

Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.63.4

Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa, sarga 63: Bharata’s ominous dream. Daśaratha falls into filth and oil and travels south in a donkey-drawn chariot, Bharata wakes fearing a family death

In the sequence: his companions try music, dancing, stories, and jokes, but cannot cheer him

2.63.4

vādayanti tathā śāntiṃ lāsayanty api cāpare
nāṭakāny apare prāhur hāsyāni vividhāni ca

Some played soothing music, others set dancers to dance, and still others recited dramas and jests of many kinds.

Words: vādayanti — (some) play (instruments); tathā — so, likewise; śāntiṃ — soothing (music), a calming strain; lāsayanty — make (others) dance; api — also; cāpare — and others; nāṭakāny — dramas; apare — others; prāhur — recited, told; hāsyāni — jests, comic pieces; vividhāni — various; ca — and

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.