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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.66.18

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 explains that he had expected the summons to concern Rāma's abhiṣeka or a sacrifice, and asks what illness killed their father → still unaware of the exile, he assumes Rāma and the others were present to perform the funeral

2.66.18

tam ārtaṃ devasaṃkāśaṃ samīkṣya patitaṃ bhuvi
utthāpayitvā śokārtaṃ vacanaṃ cedam abravīt

Seeing him, godlike, stricken and fallen upon the ground, she raised the grief-stricken one up and spoke these words:

Words: tam — him; ārtaṃ — stricken; devasaṃkāśaṃ — godlike; samīkṣya — having beheld; patitaṃ — fallen; bhuvi — on the ground; utthāpayitvā — having raised up; śokārtaṃ — the grief-stricken one; vacanaṃ — word; cedam — and this; abravīt — spoke

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.