← 2.66.16 · Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa 66: Kaikeyī’s disclosure · 2.66.18 →

Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.66.17

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: Bharata falls to the ground in grief

2.66.17

etat suruciraṃ bhāti pitur me śayanaṃ purā
tad idaṃ na vibhāty adya vihīnaṃ tena dhīmatā

“This bed of my father shone most lovely before; but now this same one, bereft of that wise man, gleams no longer.”

Words: etat — this; suruciraṃ — very lovely; bhāti — shines; pitur — of my father; me — my; śayanaṃ — bed; purā — formerly; tad idaṃ — this same; na — not; vibhāty — shines; adya — now; vihīnaṃ — bereft; tena — of that; dhīmatā — wise one

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.