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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.66.23
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
2.66.23
amba kenātyagād rājā vyādhinā mayy anāgate
dhanyā rāmādayaḥ sarve yaiḥ pitā saṃskṛtaḥ svayam
“Mother, by what disease did the king pass away while I was not come? Fortunate are Rāma and all the others, by whom our father was himself given the last rites.”
Words: amba — O mother; kenātyagād — by what did (he) depart; rājā — the king; vyādhinā — by disease; mayy — while I; anāgate — was not come; dhanyā — fortunate; rāmādayaḥ — Rāma and the rest; sarve — all; yaiḥ — by whom; pitā — father; saṃskṛtaḥ — given funeral rites; svayam — themselves, in person
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.