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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.66.20
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
2.66.20
sa rudatyā ciraṃ kālaṃ bhūmau viparivṛtya ca
jananīṃ pratyuvācedaṃ śokair bahubhir āvṛtaḥ
Weeping and rolling on the ground a long while, he, overwhelmed by many griefs, answered his mother thus:
Words: sa — he; rudatyā — weeping; ciraṃ — long; kālaṃ — time; bhūmau — on the ground; viparivṛtya — having rolled about; ca — and; jananīṃ — to his mother; pratyuvācedaṃ — answered this; śokair — by griefs; bahubhir — many; āvṛtaḥ — overwhelmed, enveloped
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.