# Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa 15 — Rāma enters the palace

*He passes through the celebrating city and enters Daśaratha’s inner rooms, the citizens wait for his return*

Portion: Rāma accepts the exile · Verses: 14 · Ref format: 2.15.<verse>

## Sequence

- Rāma passes along the decorated royal road, acknowledging the people's greetings (15.1–4)
- they urge him to follow his ancestors' example and say that seeing him installed matters more than feasts or wealth (15.5–8)
- he listens without becoming conceited, while the people's attention stays fixed on him even after he passes (15.9–11)
- he reaches Daśaratha's palace, dismisses the accompanying crowd, and enters the inner rooms → outside, the citizens wait happily for him to reappear (15.12–14).

## Verses

**2.15.1**  
sa rāmo ratham āsthāya saṃprahṛṣṭasuhṛjjanaḥ  
apaśyan nagaraṃ śrīmān nānājanasamākulam  
That illustrious Rāma, mounting the chariot, his friends thoroughly delighted, beheld the city thronged with people of every kind.

**2.15.2**  
sa gṛhair abhrasaṃkāśaiḥ pāṇḍurair upaśobhitam  
rājamārgaṃ yayau rāmo madhyenāgarudhūpitam  
Rāma proceeded down the middle of the royal highway, adorned with white houses that resembled clouds and perfumed with the smoke of aloe-wood.

**2.15.3**  
śobhamānam asaṃbādhaṃ taṃ rājapatham uttamam  
saṃvṛtaṃ vividhaiḥ paṇyair bhakṣyair uccāvacair api  
He passed along that splendid, unobstructed, excellent royal road, filled with wares of every kind and with foods high and low.

**2.15.4**  
āśīrvādān bahūñ śṛṇvan suhṛdbhiḥ samudīritān  
yathārhaṃ cāpi saṃpūjya sarvān eva narān yayau  
Hearing the many blessings uttered by his friends, and honouring all the people each as was fitting, he went on.

**2.15.5**  
pitāmahair ācaritaṃ tathaiva prapitāmahaiḥ  
adyopādāya taṃ mārgam abhiṣikto 'nupālaya  
“That path followed by your grandfathers and likewise your great-grandfathers—taking it up this very day, once consecrated, uphold it!”

**2.15.6**  
yathā sma lālitāḥ pitrā yathā pūrvaiḥ pitāmahaiḥ  
tataḥ sukhataraṃ sarve rāme vatsyāma rājani  
“Just as we were cherished by our father and by our forefathers the grandsires, even more happily than that shall we all live when Rāma is king.”

**2.15.7**  
alam adya hi bhuktena paramārthair alaṃ ca naḥ  
yathā paśyāma niryāntaṃ rāmaṃ rājye pratiṣṭhitam  
“Enough now of eating, and enough too for us of the greatest possessions, if only we may see Rāma go forth established in the kingship.”

**2.15.8**  
ato hi na priyataraṃ nānyat kiṃ cid bhaviṣyati  
yathābhiṣeko rāmasya rājyenāmitatejasaḥ  
For nothing else whatever will be dearer to them than this—the consecration to the kingship of Rāma of boundless splendour.

**2.15.9**  
etāś cānyāś ca suhṛdām udāsīnaḥ kathāḥ śubhāḥ  
ātmasaṃpūjanīḥ śṛṇvan yayau rāmo mahāpatham  
Detached, hearing these and other auspicious words of his friends, words full of praise of himself, Rāma proceeded along the great highway.

**2.15.10**  
na hi tasmān manaḥ kaś cic cakṣuṣī vā narottamāt  
naraḥ śaknoty apākraṣṭum atikrānte 'pi rāghave  
For no man could draw away his mind or his eyes from that best of men, even after Rāghava had passed by.

**2.15.11**  
sarveṣāṃ sa hi dharmātmā varṇānāṃ kurute dayām  
caturṇāṃ hi vayaḥsthānāṃ tena te tam anuvratāḥ  
For that righteous one shows compassion to all four classes and to those of every stage of life; therefore they are devoted to him.

**2.15.12**  
sa rājakulam āsādya mahendrabhavanopamam  
rājaputraḥ pitur veśma praviveśa śriyā jvalan  
Reaching the royal palace, which resembled the abode of great Indra, the prince, blazing with majesty, entered his father's dwelling.

**2.15.13**  
sa sarvāḥ samatikramya kakṣyā daśarathātmajaḥ  
saṃnivartya janaṃ sarvaṃ śuddhāntaḥpuram abhyagāt  
The son of Daśaratha, passing through all the enclosures and sending back the whole crowd, went into the pure inner apartments.

**2.15.14**  
tataḥ praviṣṭe pitur antikaṃ tadā janaḥ sa sarvo mudito nṛpātmaje  
pratīkṣate tasya punaḥ sma nirgamaṃ yathodayaṃ candramasaḥ saritpatiḥ  
Then, when he had entered his father's presence, all those people, delighted in the prince, awaited his coming forth again, as the ocean, lord of rivers, awaits the rising of the moon.