# Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa 37 — Daśaratha loses sight of Rāma and rejects Kaikeyī *The chariot’s dust disappears, Daśaratha falls, rejects Kaikeyī’s touch and returns to Kausalyā as his sight fails* Portion: Departure and mourning in Ayodhyā · Verses: 28 · Ref format: 2.37. ## Sequence - Daśaratha watches until even the dust from Rāma's chariot disappears, then falls to the ground (37.1–3) - when Kaikeyī tries to help him, he rejects her touch and renounces their relationship → he adds that if Bharata welcomes the Kingdom, he does not want Bharata's offerings after his death (37.4–9) - Kausalyā helps him up and leads him back as he stops along the chariot tracks (37.10–13) - seeing the hoofprints but no longer his son, he imagines Rāma sleeping on the ground beneath a tree (37.14–17) - he returns through the city's deserted streets, saying he cannot live without him (37.18–21) - he asks to be taken to Kausalyā's rooms (37.22–24) - on her couch he calls for Rāma and asks her to touch him because he can no longer see her clearly → she sits beside him and weeps (37.25–28). ## Verses **2.37.1** yāvat tu niryatas tasya rajorūpam adṛśyata naivekṣvākuvaras tāvat saṃjahārātmacakṣuṣī As long as the dust-cloud of his departing was still seen, so long did the best of the Ikṣvākus not withdraw his eyes. **2.37.2** yāvad rājā priyaṃ putraṃ paśyaty atyantadhārmikam tāvad vyavardhatevāsya dharaṇyāṃ putradarśane As long as the king could see his dear and utterly righteous son, so long did his longing for the sight of his son seem to grow ever greater upon the earth. **2.37.3** na paśyati rajo 'py asya yadā rāmasya bhūmipaḥ tadārtaś ca viṣaṇṇaś ca papāta dharaṇītale When the lord of the earth could no longer see even the dust of Rāma, then, afflicted and dejected, he fell to the ground. **2.37.4** tasya dakṣiṇam anvagāt kausalyā bāhum aṅganā vāmaṃ cāsyānvagāt pārśvaṃ kaikeyī bharatapriyā The lady Kausalyā went to his right arm, and Kaikeyī, fond of Bharata, went to his left side. **2.37.5** tāṃ nayena ca saṃpanno dharmeṇa nivayena ca uvāca rājā kaikeyīṃ samīkṣya vyathitendriyaḥ The king, endowed with statecraft, righteousness and modesty, looking at her with his senses shaken, said to Kaikeyī: **2.37.6** kaikeyi mā mamāṅgāni sprākṣīs tvaṃ duṣṭacāriṇī na hi tvāṃ draṣṭum icchāmi na bhāryā na ca bāndhavī Kaikeyī, do not touch my limbs, you of wicked conduct; for I do not wish to see you — you are no wife of mine, nor kinswoman. **2.37.7** ye ca tvām upajīvanti nāhaṃ teṣāṃ na te mama kevalārthaparāṃ hi tvāṃ tyaktadharmāṃ tyajāmy aham And those who live off you — I am not theirs, nor are they mine; for I renounce you, intent only on your own ends, having cast off all righteousness. **2.37.8** agṛhṇāṃ yac ca te pāṇim agniṃ paryaṇayaṃ ca yat anujānāmi tat sarvam asmiṃl loke paratra ca That I took your hand and that I led you round the fire — all that I disavow, both in this world and in the next. **2.37.9** bharataś cet pratītaḥ syād rājyaṃ prāpyedam avyayam yan me sa dadyāt pitrarthaṃ mā mā tad dattam āgamat If Bharata should be well pleased on gaining this imperishable kingdom, then whatever he might give me as a father's due — let that gift never reach me. **2.37.10** atha reṇusamudhvastaṃ tam utthāpya narādhipam nyavartata tadā devī kausalyā śokakarśitā Then, having raised up that lord of men who was covered with dust, the queen Kausalyā, wasted with grief, turned back. **2.37.11** hatveva brāhmaṇaṃ kāmāt spṛṣṭvāgnim iva pāṇinā anvatapyata dharmātmā putraṃ saṃcintya tāpasaṃ Like one who has wantonly slain a brahmin, like one who has touched fire with his hand, the righteous king burned with remorse, brooding on his son turned ascetic. **2.37.12** nivṛtyaiva nivṛtyaiva sīdato rathavartmasu rājño nātibabhau rūpaṃ grastasyāṃśumato yathā Turning back again and again, sinking down upon the chariot-tracks, the king's appearance shone but dimly, like that of the eclipsed sun. **2.37.13** vilalāpa ca duḥkhārtaḥ priyaṃ putram anusmaran nagarāntam anuprāptaṃ buddhvā putram athābravīt And, stricken with grief, he lamented, remembering his dear son; realizing that his son had reached the city's edge, he then said: **2.37.14** vāhanānāṃ ca mukhyānāṃ vahatāṃ taṃ mamātmajam padāni pathi dṛśyante sa mahātmā na dṛśyate The hoofprints of the finest steeds that bore that son of mine are seen upon the road, but that great one is seen no more. **2.37.15** sa nūnaṃ kva cid evādya vṛkṣamūlam upāśritaḥ kāṣṭhaṃ vā yadi vāśmānam upadhāya śayiṣyate Surely today, somewhere or other, taking shelter at the foot of a tree, laying his head on a log or a stone, he will lie down to sleep. **2.37.16** utthāsyati ca medinyāḥ kṛpaṇaḥ pāṃśuguṇṭhitaḥ viniḥśvasan prasravaṇāt kareṇūnām ivarṣabhaḥ And piteously he will rise up from the earth, smeared with dust, sighing, like a bull of the she-elephants rising from a mountain-spring. **2.37.17** drakṣyanti nūnaṃ puruṣā dīrghabāhuṃ vanecarāḥ rāmam utthāya gacchantaṃ lokanātham anāthavat Surely the men who roam the forest will behold the long-armed Rāma, lord of the world, rising and going his way like one who is himself forlorn. **2.37.18** sakāmā bhava kaikeyi vidhavā rājyam āvasa na hi taṃ puruṣavyāghraṃ vinā jīvitum utsahe Have your wish, Kaikeyī; as a widow, rule the kingdom; for without that tiger among men I have no strength to live. **2.37.19** ity evaṃ vilapan rājā janaughenābhisaṃvṛtaḥ apasnāta ivāriṣṭaṃ praviveśa purottamam Lamenting thus, the king, surrounded by a throng of people, entered the best of cities like one who has performed the ablution after a death. **2.37.20** śūnyacatvaraveśmāntāṃ saṃvṛtāpaṇadevatām klāntadurbaladuḥkhārtāṃ nātyākīrṇamahāpathām Its squares and dwelling-quarters empty, its shops and temples shut up, its people worn, faint and grief-stricken, its great roads no longer thronged — **2.37.21** tām avekṣya purīṃ sarvāṃ rāmam evānucintayan vilapan prāviśad rājā gṛhaṃ sūrya ivāmbudam Gazing on that whole city, brooding on Rāma alone, lamenting, the king entered his palace as the sun enters a raincloud. **2.37.22** mahāhradam ivākṣobhyaṃ suparṇena hṛtoragam rāmeṇa rahitaṃ veśma vaidehyā lakṣmaṇena ca The palace bereft of Rāma, of Vaidehī and of Lakṣmaṇa was like a great, unshakable lake whose serpents had been carried off by Garuḍa. **2.37.23** kausalyāyā gṛhaṃ śīghraṃ rāma mātur nayantu mām iti bruvantaṃ rājānam anayan dvāradarśitaḥ 'Take me quickly to the house of Kausalyā, Rāma's mother!' — as the king spoke thus, those shown the way by the doorkeepers led him there. **2.37.24** tatas tatra praviṣṭasya kausalyāyā niveśanam adhiruhyāpi śayanaṃ babhūva lulitaṃ manaḥ Then, when he had entered there, into Kausalyā's abode, even as he climbed onto the couch his mind became distraught. **2.37.25** tac ca dṛṣṭvā mahārājo bhujam udyamya vīryavān uccaiḥ svareṇa cukrośa hā rāghava jahāsi mām And seeing that, the valiant great king, raising his arm, cried out in a loud voice, 'Ah, Rāghava, you forsake me!' **2.37.26** sukhitā bata taṃ kālaṃ jīviṣyanti narottamāḥ pariṣvajanto ye rāmaṃ drakṣyanti punar āgatam Happy indeed will those best of men be, who shall live to that time when, embracing Rāma, they behold him come again. **2.37.27** na tvāṃ paśyāmi kausalye sādhu māṃ pāṇinā spṛśa rāmaṃ me 'nugatā dṛṣṭir adyāpi na nivartate I cannot see you, Kausalyā; pray touch me with your hand. My sight, gone after Rāma, does not return even now. **2.37.28** taṃ rāmam evānuvicintayantaṃ samīkṣya devī śayane narendram upopaviśyādhikam ārtarūpā viniḥśvasantī vilalāpa kṛcchraṃ Seeing that lord of men brooding on nothing but Rāma, the queen, herself the very image of distress, sat down close beside him on the couch and, sighing, lamented piteously.