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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.98.14

Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa, sarga 98: Bharata’s appeal and Rāma’s answer. Bharata asks him to restore the Kingdom, Rāma teaches the inevitability of loss, separation and death

In the sequence: Rāma answers that possessions end in loss, meetings in separation, and life in death

2.98.14

tam evaṃ duḥkhitaṃ prekṣya vilapantaṃ yaśasvinam
rāmaḥ kṛtātmā bharataṃ samāśvāsayad ātmavān

Seeing the illustrious Bharata thus grieved and lamenting, the self-possessed Rāma, disciplined of soul, consoled him.

Words: tam — him; evaṃ — thus; duḥkhitaṃ — grieved; prekṣya — having seen; vilapantaṃ — lamenting; yaśasvinam — the illustrious one; rāmaḥ — Rāma; kṛtātmā — of disciplined soul; bharataṃ — Bharata; samāśvāsayad — consoled, reassured; ātmavān — self-possessed

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.