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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.98.26

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: relationships come together and part like pieces of wood meeting at sea; grief cannot reverse death

2.98.26

evaṃ bhāryāś ca putrāś ca jñātayaś ca vasūni ca
sametya vyavadhāvanti dhruvo hy eṣāṃ vinābhavaḥ

—so wives and sons and kinsmen and riches, having come together, run apart; for their separation is certain.

Words: evaṃ — so; bhāryāś ca — and wives; putrāś ca — and sons; jñātayaś ca — and kinsmen; vasūni ca — and riches; sametya — having come together; vyavadhāvanti — run apart, disperse; dhruvo hy — for certain; eṣāṃ — of these; vinābhavaḥ — separation, being apart

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.