# Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa 42 — The citizens return to Ayodhyā without Rāma *Families reproach the men for returning without Rāma and imagine abandoning Kaikeyī’s Kingdom to join him* Portion: The citizens follow and return · Verses: 26 · Ref format: 2.42. ## Sequence - The returning citizens reach their families in despair; shops and household cooking remain neglected (42.1–4) - women reproach the men for coming back without Rāma and praise Lakṣmaṇa for staying with him (42.5–7) - they imagine the rivers, forests, and mountains welcoming the travelers (42.8–12) - some urge another attempt to follow, proposing that the men serve Rāma and the women attend Sītā (42.13–16) - they fear life under Kaikeyī and doubt Daśaratha will survive the separation (42.17–24) - throughout the city, people mourn Rāma as someone dearer than their own children (42.25–26). ## Verses **2.42.1** anugamya nivṛttānāṃ rāmaṃ nagaravāsinām udgatānīva sattvāni babhūvur amanasvinām Of the city-dwellers who had followed Rāma and turned back, disheartened, the very life-spirits seemed to have gone out. **2.42.2** svaṃ svaṃ nilayam āgamya putradāraiḥ samāvṛtāḥ aśrūṇi mumucuḥ sarve bāṣpeṇa pihitānanāḥ Coming each to his own home, surrounded by children and wives, they all shed tears, their faces veiled with weeping. **2.42.3** na cāhṛṣyan na cāmodan vaṇijo na prasārayan na cāśobhanta paṇyāni nāpacan gṛhamedhinaḥ They neither rejoiced nor took delight; the merchants did not display their wares; the goods gave no luster; the householders did not cook. **2.42.4** naṣṭaṃ dṛṣṭvā nābhyanandan vipulaṃ vā dhanāgamam putraṃ prathamajaṃ labdhvā jananī nābhyanandata Seeing wealth lost they did not grieve, nor did they rejoice at an abundant gain of wealth; a mother who had borne her firstborn son did not rejoice. **2.42.5** gṛhe gṛhe rudantyaś ca bhartāraṃ gṛham āgatam vyagarhayanto duḥkhārtā vāgbhis totrair iva dvipān In house after house the women wept and, stricken with grief, reproached their husbands returned home with words, as men goad elephants with prods. **2.42.6** kiṃ nu teṣāṃ gṛhaiḥ kāryaṃ kiṃ dāraiḥ kiṃ dhanena vā putrair vā kiṃ sukhair vāpi ye na paśyanti rāghavam What use to them are homes, what use wives, or wealth, or sons, or even pleasures—to those who do not see Rāghava? **2.42.7** ekaḥ satpuruṣo loke lakṣmaṇaḥ saha sītayā yo 'nugacchati kākutsthaṃ rāmaṃ paricaran vane The one true man in the world is Lakṣmaṇa, together with Sītā, who follows Rāma Kākutstha, serving him in the forest. **2.42.8** āpagāḥ kṛtapuṇyās tāḥ padminyaś ca sarāṃsi ca yeṣu snāsyati kākutstho vigāhya salilaṃ śuci Blessed are those rivers, lotus-ponds, and lakes in which Kākutstha will bathe, plunging into their pure water. **2.42.9** śobhayiṣyanti kākutstham aṭavyo ramyakānanāḥ āpagāś ca mahānūpāḥ sānumantaś ca parvatāḥ The forests with their lovely groves will grace Kākutstha, and the rivers with their broad marshy banks, and the mountains with their peaks. **2.42.10** kānanaṃ vāpi śailaṃ vā yaṃ rāmo 'bhigamiṣyati priyātithim iva prāptaṃ nainaṃ śakṣyanty anarcitum Whatever grove or mountain Rāma shall approach will be unable to leave him unhonored, as though a dear guest had arrived. **2.42.11** vicitrakusumāpīḍā bahumañjaridhāriṇaḥ akāle cāpi mukhyāni puṣpāṇi ca phalāni ca darśayiṣyanty anukrośād girayo rāmam āgatam Crowned with wondrous blossoms and laden with many clusters, the mountains, out of compassion, will show even out of season their finest flowers and fruits to Rāma who has come. **2.42.12** vidarśayanto vividhān bhūyaś citrāṃś ca nirjharān pādapāḥ parvatāgreṣu ramayiṣyanti rāghavam The trees on the mountain-peaks, revealing manifold and wondrous cascades, will delight Rāghava. **2.42.13** yatra rāmo bhayaṃ nātra nāsti tatra parābhavaḥ sa hi śūro mahābāhuḥ putro daśarathasya ca Where Rāma is, there is no fear; there is no defeat there; for he is a hero, mighty-armed, and the son of Daśaratha. **2.42.14** purā bhavati no dūrād anugacchāma rāghavam pādacchāyā sukhā bhartus tādṛśasya mahātmanaḥ sa hi nātho janasyāsya sa gatiḥ sa parāyaṇam Before he goes far from us, let us follow Rāghava; sweet is the shade at the feet of such a great-souled master; for he is the protector of this people, he their recourse, he their final refuge. **2.42.15** vayaṃ paricariṣyāmaḥ sītāṃ yūyaṃ tu rāghavam iti paurastriyo bhartṝn duḥkhārtās tat tad abruvan 'We shall wait upon Sītā, and you upon Rāghava'—thus the townswomen, stricken with grief, said this and that to their husbands. **2.42.16** yuṣmākaṃ rāghavo 'raṇye yogakṣemaṃ vidhāsyati sītā nārījanasyāsya yogakṣemaṃ kariṣyati Rāghava will provide for your welfare in the wilderness, and Sītā will see to the welfare of this company of women. **2.42.17** ko nv anenāpratītena sotkaṇṭhitajanena ca saṃprīyetāmanojñena vāsena hṛtacetasā Who could take joy in this cheerless dwelling, with its longing people, unlovely, that steals away the heart? **2.42.18** kaikeyyā yadi ced rājyaṃ syād adharmyam anāthavat na hi no jīvitenārthaḥ kutaḥ putraiḥ kuto dhanaiḥ If the kingdom should fall to Kaikeyī, lawless and as if masterless, then we have no use for life—whence sons, whence wealth? **2.42.19** yayā putraś ca bhartā ca tyaktāv aiśvaryakāraṇāt kaṃ sā parihared anyaṃ kaikeyī kulapāṃsanī She who abandoned both son and husband for the sake of sovereignty—whom else would that Kaikeyī, disgrace of her line, spare? **2.42.20** kaikeyyā na vayaṃ rājye bhṛtakā nivasemahi jīvantyā jātu jīvantyaḥ putrair api śapāmahe We would never, while she lives, dwell as hirelings in Kaikeyī's kingdom; we who wish to live swear it even by our sons. **2.42.21** yā putraṃ pārthivendrasya pravāsayati nirghṛṇā kas tāṃ prāpya sukhaṃ jīved adharmyāṃ duṣṭacāriṇīm She who, without pity, drives the son of the lord of kings into exile—who could live at ease under her, lawless and evil in her ways? **2.42.22** na hi pravrajite rāme jīviṣyati mahīpatiḥ mṛte daśarathe vyaktaṃ vilopas tadanantaram For once Rāma has gone into exile the king will not live, and when Daśaratha is dead, ruin will plainly follow thereafter. **2.42.23** te viṣaṃ pibatāloḍya kṣīṇapuṇyāḥ sudurgatāḥ rāghavaṃ vānugacchadhvam aśrutiṃ vāpi gacchata So drink poison stirred and mixed, O you whose merit is spent, you wretched ones—or else follow Rāghava, or go where no report of this shall reach you. **2.42.24** mithyā pravrājito rāmaḥ sabhāryaḥ sahalakṣmaṇaḥ bharate saṃniṣṛṣṭāḥ smaḥ saunike paśavo yathā Wrongfully has Rāma been banished, with his wife and with Lakṣmaṇa; we have been handed over to Bharata like beasts to a butcher. **2.42.25** tās tathā vilapantyas tu nagare nāgarastriyaḥ cukruśur bhṛśasaṃtaptā mṛtyor iva bhayāgame Thus lamenting in the city, the townswomen cried aloud, sorely tormented, as if at the onset of the terror of death. **2.42.26** tathā striyo rāmanimittam āturā yathā sute bhrātari vā vivāsite vilapya dīnā rurudur vicetasaḥ sutair hi tāsām adhiko hi so 'bhavat So distressed were the women on Rāma's account—as though a son or a brother had been sent into exile—that, wretched and beside themselves, they lamented and wept aloud; for to them he was dearer even than their own sons.