# Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa 55 — Kausalyā reproaches Daśaratha *She fears Rāma will reject Bharata’s former Kingdom even after returning, Daśaratha collapses and recalls his past wrongdoing* Portion: Sumantra’s return and the parents’ grief · Verses: 21 · Ref format: 2.55. ## Sequence - Kausalyā asks how her sons and Sītā, accustomed to comfort, can endure forest life (55.1–3) - she contrasts Sītā's former food and music with wild grain and the sounds of predators (55.4–6) - she longs to see Rāma and wonders how her heart has survived the separation (55.7–9) - she fears that even after fourteen years he will refuse a Kingdom already enjoyed by Bharata (55.10–15) - she says Daśaratha has deprived her of both her husband's support and her son's presence; in this outburst she also says she does not wish to go to the forest herself (55.16–19) - accusing him of bringing ruin on the family and city, she intensifies his distress → he faints, and the memory of an earlier wrongdoing returns to him (55.20–21). ## Verses **2.55.1** vanaṃ gate dharmapare rāme ramayatāṃ vare kausalyā rudatī svārtā bhartāram idam abravīt When Rāma, devoted to dharma and best of those who give delight, had gone to the forest, Kausalyā, weeping and sore distressed, said this to her husband: **2.55.2** yady apitriṣu lokeṣu prathitaṃ te mayad yaśaḥ sānukrośo vadānyaś ca priyavādī ca rāghavaḥ “Though your great fame is renowned in the three worlds—that the Rāghava is compassionate, generous and kindly of speech— **2.55.3** kathaṃ naravaraśreṣṭha putrau tau saha sītayā duḥkhitau sukhasaṃvṛddhau vane duḥkhaṃ sahiṣyataḥ “how, O best of the foremost of men, will those two sons, reared in comfort but now afflicted, together with Sītā, endure hardship in the forest? **2.55.4** sā nūnaṃ taruṇī śyāmā sukumārī sukhocitā katham uṣṇaṃ ca śītaṃ ca maithilī prasahiṣyate “That young, dark-hued, delicate lady, used to comfort—how will the Maithilī endure both heat and cold? **2.55.5** bhuktvāśanaṃ viśālākṣī sūpadaṃśānvitaṃ śubham vanyaṃ naivāram āhāraṃ kathaṃ sītopabhokṣyate “The wide-eyed one, used to eating fine food furnished with broths and relishes—how will Sītā feed on wild wild-rice fare? **2.55.6** gītavāditranirghoṣaṃ śrutvā śubham aninditā kathaṃ kravyādasiṃhānāṃ śabdaṃ śroṣyaty aśobhanam “That blameless one, used to hearing the sweet sound of song and instruments—how will she hear the ill-boding roar of flesh-eating lions? **2.55.7** mahendradhvajasaṃkāśaḥ kva nu śete mahābhujaḥ bhujaṃ parighasaṃkāśam upadhāya mahābalaḥ “Where now does he lie, the mighty-armed one like great Indra's banner, the man of great strength, pillowing his head on an arm resembling an iron bar? **2.55.8** padmavarṇaṃ sukeśāntaṃ padmaniḥśvāsam uttamam kadā drakṣyāmi rāmasya vadanaṃ puṣkarekṣaṇam “When shall I behold Rāma's peerless face, lotus-hued, with lovely hair-ends, lotus-fragrant of breath, and lotus-eyed? **2.55.9** vajrasāramayaṃ nūnaṃ hṛdayaṃ me na saṃśayaḥ apaśyantyā na taṃ yad vai phalatīdaṃ sahasradhā “Surely my heart is made of the very stuff of adamant—no doubt of it—since, not seeing him, it does not burst here into a thousand pieces. **2.55.10** yadi pañcadaśe varṣe rāghavaḥ punar eṣyati jahyād rājyaṃ ca kośaṃ ca bharatenopabhokṣyate “If in the fifteenth year the Rāghava should return, it seems he would (still) renounce the kingdom and the treasury—it will (by then) be enjoyed by Bharata. **2.55.11** evaṃ kanīyasā bhrātrā bhuktaṃ rājyaṃ viśāṃ pate bhrātā jyeṣṭhā variṣṭhāś ca kimarthaṃ nāvamaṃsyate “The kingdom being thus enjoyed by the younger brother, O lord of the people, why would the elder and worthier brother not scorn it? **2.55.12** na pareṇāhṛtaṃ bhakṣyaṃ vyāghraḥ khāditum icchati evam eva naravyāghraḥ paralīḍhaṃ na maṃsyate “A tiger does not care to eat food brought down by another; just so the tiger among men will not think of what another has tasted before him. **2.55.13** havir ājyaṃ puroḍāśāḥ kuśā yūpāś ca khādirāḥ naitāni yātayāmāni kurvanti punar adhvare “The oblation, the clarified butter, the sacrificial cakes, the kuśa-grass and the posts of khadira-wood—these, once used, they do not employ again at a sacrifice. **2.55.14** tathā hy āttam idaṃ rājyaṃ hṛtasārāṃ surām iva nābhimantum alaṃ rāmo naṣṭasomam ivādhvaram “So too Rāma will not deign to hanker after this kingdom, once taken by another, like liquor whose strength is drained, or a sacrifice whose soma is lost. **2.55.15** naivaṃvidham asatkāraṃ rāghavo marṣayiṣyati balavān iva śārdūlo bāladher abhimarśanam “The Rāghava will not brook such a slight, any more than a strong tiger would brook the touch of its tail. **2.55.16** sa tādṛśaḥ siṃhabalo vṛṣabhākṣo nararṣabhaḥ svayam eva hataḥ pitrā jalajenātmajo yathā “Such a one, strong as a lion, bull-eyed, a bull among men, has been struck down by his own father—as a fish is (destroyed) by its own offspring. **2.55.17** dvijāti carito dharmaḥ śāstradṛṣṭaḥ sanātanaḥ yadi te dharmanirate tvayā putre vivāsite “There is an eternal dharma, practised by the twice-born and taught in the scriptures—(what of it now,) when your two sons, devoted to dharma, have been driven into exile by you? **2.55.18** gatir evāk patir nāryā dvitīyā gatir ātmajaḥ tṛtīyā jñātayo rājaṃś caturthī neha vidyate “The husband is a woman's very refuge; the son is her second refuge; the kinsmen the third, O king; a fourth there is none here. **2.55.19** tatra tvaṃ caiva me nāsti rāmaś ca vanam āśritaḥ na vanaṃ gantum icchāmi sarvathā hi hatā tvayā “Of these, you yourself are lost to me, and Rāma has betaken himself to the forest; I do not wish to go to the forest—in every way I have been destroyed by you. **2.55.20** hataṃ tvayā rājyam idaṃ sarāṣṭraṃ hatas tathātmā saha mantribhiś ca hatā saputrāsmi hatāś ca paurāḥ sutaś ca bhāryā ca tava prahṛṣṭau hatā saputrāsmi hatāś ca paurāḥ sutaś ca bhāryā ca tava prahṛṣṭau “By you this kingdom together with its realm is ruined; yourself, too, is ruined along with your ministers; I with my son am ruined, and the townsfolk are ruined—while your (other) son and his wife rejoice. **2.55.21** imāṃ giraṃ dāruṇaśabdasaṃśritāṃ niśamya rājāpi mumoha duḥkhitaḥ tataḥ sa śokaṃ praviveśa pārthivaḥ svaduṣkṛtaṃ cāpi punas tadāsmarat tataḥ sa śokaṃ praviveśa pārthivaḥ svaduṣkṛtaṃ cāpi punas tadāsmarat Hearing this speech couched in harsh words, the king too, grief-stricken, swooned away; then the sovereign sank into sorrow, and once more he called to mind his own past misdeed.