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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.98.28

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

2.98.28

yathā hi sārthaṃ gacchantaṃ brūyāt kaś cit pathi sthitaḥ
aham apy āgamiṣyāmi pṛṣṭhato bhavatām iti

For just as someone standing on the road might say to a passing caravan, “I too shall come along behind you”—

Words: yathā hi — for just as; sārthaṃ gacchantaṃ — to a passing caravan; brūyāt — might say; kaś cit — someone; pathi sthitaḥ — standing on the road; aham apy — I too; āgamiṣyāmi — shall come; pṛṣṭhato — behind; bhavatām — you (pl.); iti — thus

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.