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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.98.18

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

2.98.18

yathāgāraṃ dṛḍhasthūṇaṃ jīrṇaṃ bhūtvāvasīdati
tathāvasīdanti narā jarāmṛtyuvaśaṃ gatāḥ

Just as a house with sturdy pillars, having grown old, sinks into ruin, so men sink down, fallen under the sway of old age and death.

Words: yathāgāraṃ — just as a house; dṛḍhasthūṇaṃ — with firm pillars; jīrṇaṃ — grown old; bhūtvāvasīdati — having become, sinks into ruin; tathāvasīdanti — so they sink down; narā — men; jarāmṛtyuvaśaṃ — to the power of old age and death; gatāḥ — gone, fallen

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.