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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.98.24
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: each day diminishes life, even when people greet the passing days and seasons with joy
2.98.24
hṛṣyanty ṛtumukhaṃ dṛṣṭvā navaṃ navam ihāgatam
ṛtūnāṃ parivartena prāṇināṃ prāṇasaṃkṣayaḥ
They delight to see the onset of a season, ever new, come round again; yet by the turning of the seasons comes the wasting-away of creatures' lives.
Words: hṛṣyanty — they delight, rejoice; ṛtumukhaṃ — the onset of a season; dṛṣṭvā — having seen; navaṃ navam — ever new; ihāgatam — come here, arrived; ṛtūnāṃ parivartena — by the revolution of the seasons; prāṇināṃ — of living beings; prāṇasaṃkṣayaḥ — the destruction of life
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.