← 2.70.19 · Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa 70: Daśaratha’s cremation · 2.70.21 →

Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.70.20

Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa, sarga 70: Daśaratha’s cremation. The body is lifted from oil and carried to a fragrant-wood pyre, the family offers water in the Sarayū and begins ten days of mourning

In the sequence: the ṛtvijs and Queens circle the burning pyre, keeping Daśaratha to their left and then go to the Sarayū to offer water → the family observes ten days of mourning on the ground.

2.70.20

prasavyaṃ cāpi taṃ cakrur ṛtvijo 'gnicitaṃ nṛpam
striyaś ca śokasaṃtaptāḥ kausalyā pramukhās tadā

And the ritual priests circled the king, now laid upon the fire, keeping him to their left, as did the women consumed with grief, led by Kausalyā.

Words: prasavyaṃ — leftwards (keeping to the left); cāpi — and also; taṃ — him; cakrur — made (the circling); ṛtvijo — the ritual priests; 'gnicitaṃ — laid upon the fire; nṛpam — the king; striyaś — the women; ca — and; śokasaṃtaptāḥ — consumed with grief; kausalyā — Kausalyā; pramukhās — led by, foremost; tadā — then

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.