← 2.98.28 · Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa 98: Bharata’s appeal and Rāma’s answer · 2.98.30 →
Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.98.29
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
2.98.29
evaṃ pūrvair gato mārgaḥ pitṛpaitāmaho dhruvaḥ
tam āpannaḥ kathaṃ śoced yasya nāsti vyatikramaḥ
—so is the road our forefathers travelled, the sure road of fathers and grandfathers; having entered upon it, how should one grieve, when from it there is no escape?
Words: evaṃ — thus, so; pūrvair — by the ancestors; gato mārgaḥ — the road travelled; pitṛpaitāmaho — of fathers and grandfathers; dhruvaḥ — fixed, certain; tam āpannaḥ — having entered upon it; kathaṃ śoced — how should one grieve; yasya — of which; nāsti vyatikramaḥ — there is no crossing over
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.