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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.66.12

Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa, sarga 66: Kaikeyī’s disclosure. Bharata learns that Daśaratha died calling for the exiles, Kaikeyī admits arranging Rāma’s banishment and urges him to claim the throne

In the sequence: he asks where his father is and why the palace seems so joyless → Kaikeyī tells him that Daśaratha has died

2.66.12

rājā bhavati bhūyiṣṭhgam ihāmbāyā niveśane
tam ahaṃ nādya paśyāmi draṣṭum icchann ihāgataḥ

“The king is most often here in my mother's chambers; yet I do not see him today, though I have come here wishing to see him.”

Words: rājā — the king; bhavati — is, stays; bhūyiṣṭhgam — most often; ihāmbāyā — here ... of mother; niveśane — in the chamber; tam — him; ahaṃ — I; nādya — not today; paśyāmi — see; draṣṭum — to see; icchann — wishing; ihāgataḥ — having come here

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.