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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.71.17

Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa, sarga 71: Daśaratha’s remaining rites. Bharata performs śrāddha and distributes gifts, the brothers grieve over the ashes and bones, Vasiṣṭha & Sumantra help them complete their duties

In the sequence: he says he cannot bear returning to an empty Ayodhyā

2.71.17

pitari svargam āpanne rāme cāraṇyam āśrite
kiṃ me jīvita sāmarthyaṃ pravekṣyāmi hutāśanam

With my father gone to heaven and Rāma taken to the forest, what power to live have I? I shall enter the fire.

Words: pitari — when the father; svargam — to heaven; āpanne — had attained; rāme — and when Rāma; cāraṇyam — to the forest; āśrite — had resorted; kiṃ — what; me — for me; jīvita sāmarthyaṃ — power to live; pravekṣyāmi — I shall enter; hutāśanam — the fire (oblation-eater)

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.