← 2.68.28 · Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa 68: Surabhi’s tears and Bharata’s vow

Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.68.29

Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa, sarga 68: Surabhi’s tears and Bharata’s vow. He compares Kausalyā’s sorrow to Surabhi’s grief for her exhausted oxen and offers to replace Rāma in exile

In the sequence: he vows to restore Rāma and enter the forest himself → overwhelmed, he falls to the ground.

2.68.29

saṃraktanetraḥ śithilāmbaras tadā vidhūtasarvābharaṇaḥ paraṃtapaḥ
babhūva bhūmau patito nṛpātmajaḥ śacīpateḥ ketur ivotsavakṣaye

His eyes bloodshot, his robe loosened, all his ornaments cast off, that scorcher of foes, the prince, lay fallen upon the ground, like Indra's banner when the festival is over.

Words: saṃraktanetraḥ — with bloodshot eyes; śithilāmbaras — with loosened garment; tadā — then; vidhūtasarvābharaṇaḥ — with all his ornaments shaken off; paraṃtapaḥ — scorcher of foes; babhūva — became, lay; bhūmau — on the ground; patito — fallen; nṛpātmajaḥ — the king's son; śacīpateḥ — of the lord of Śacī (Indra); ketur — the banner; ivotsavakṣaye — as at the end of a festival

Composed by Maharṣi Vālmīki. 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.