# Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa 60 — Daśaratha’s body preserved in oil *Kausalyā blames Kaikeyī, the ministers place the body in an oil trough and await a son before cremation* Portion: Daśaratha’s confession and death · Verses: 19 · Ref format: 2.60. ## Sequence - Kausalyā holds Daśaratha's head and bitterly tells Kaikeyī that she now has the unopposed Kingdom she wanted (60.1–3) - deprived of both husband and son, she feels abandoned and blames Kaikeyī's ambition for the family's destruction (60.4–6) - she worries about Rāma and Sītā and imagines Janaka's grief when he hears what has happened (60.7–10) - attendants lead her away (60.11–13) - the ministers preserve Daśaratha's body in a trough of oil and guard it, postponing cremation until his son is present (60.11–13) - the palace and city continue mourning, and the people openly condemn Kaikeyī (60.14–19). ## Verses **2.60.1** tam agnim iva saṃśāntam ambuhīnam ivārṇavam hataprabham ivādityaṃ svargathaṃ prekṣya bhūmipam Beholding the lord of the earth gone to heaven — like a fire burnt out, like an ocean drained of water, like the sun robbed of its splendor — **2.60.2** kausalyā bāṣpapūrṇākṣī vividhaṃ śokakarśitā upagṛhya śiro rājñaḥ kaikeyīṃ pratyabhāṣata Kausalyā, her eyes brimming with tears, wasted by manifold grief, clasping the king's head, addressed Kaikeyī: **2.60.3** sakāmā bhava kaikeyi bhuṅkṣva rājyam akaṇṭakam tyaktvā rājānam ekāgrā nṛśaṃse duṣṭacāriṇi “Have your wish fulfilled, Kaikeyī; enjoy the kingdom free of rivals, having cast off the king and left him alone — you cruel woman of wicked conduct! **2.60.4** vihāya māṃ gato rāmo bhartā ca svargato mama vipathe sārthahīneva nāhaṃ jīvitum utsahe Rāma has gone, forsaking me, and my husband has gone to heaven; like a woman left without her caravan on a trackless road, I have no will to live. **2.60.5** bhartāraṃ taṃ parityajya kā strī daivatam ātmanaḥ icchej jīvitum anyatra kaikeyyās tyaktadharmaṇaḥ What woman, having forsaken that husband who is her very deity, would wish to live — save Kaikeyī, who has cast off all dharma? **2.60.6** na lubdho budhyate doṣān kiṃ pākam iva bhakṣayan kubjānimittaṃ kaikeyyā rāghavāṇān kulaṃ hatam A greedy person does not perceive the evils, like one eating the kiṃpāka fruit; because of the hunchback, by Kaikeyī the lineage of the Rāghavas has been destroyed. **2.60.7** aniyoge niyuktena rājñā rāmaṃ vivāsitam sabhāryaṃ janakaḥ śrutvā patitapsyaty ahaṃ yathā When Janaka hears that Rāma has been banished with his wife by the king who was bound to an improper task, he too will burn with grief, just as I do. **2.60.8** rāmaḥ kamalapatrākṣo jīvanāśam ito gataḥ videharājasya sutā tahā sītā tapasvinī duḥkhasyānucitā duḥkhaṃ vane paryudvijiṣyati Lotus-eyed Rāma has gone from here to the ruin of his living; and likewise the daughter of Videha's king, poor Sītā, unused to sorrow, will be sorely distressed by misery in the forest. **2.60.9** nadatāṃ bhīmaghoṣāṇāṃ niśāsu mṛgapakṣiṇām niśamya nūnaṃ saṃstrastā rāghavaṃ saṃśrayiṣyati Hearing at night the beasts and birds that cry with dreadful voices, surely, terrified, she will cling to Rāghava. **2.60.10** vṛddhaś caivālpaputraś ca vaidehīm anicintayan so 'pi śokasamāviṣṭo nanu tyakṣyati jīvitam And Janaka, aged and with few sons, brooding over Vaidehī, overcome by grief, will surely give up his life too. **2.60.11** tāṃ tataḥ saṃpariṣvajya vilapantīṃ tapasvinīm vyapaninyuḥ suduḥkhārtāṃ kausalyāṃ vyāvahārikāḥ Then the household attendants, embracing the wretched, lamenting Kausalyā, sorely stricken with grief, led her away. **2.60.12** tailadroṇyām athāmātyāḥ saṃveśya jagatīpatim rājñaḥ sarvāṇy athādiṣṭāś cakruḥ karmāṇy anantaram Then the ministers, laying the lord of the earth in a trough of oil, and duly directed, thereafter performed all the king's rites in order. **2.60.13** na tu saṃkalanaṃ rājño vinā putreṇa mantriṇaḥ sarvajñāḥ kartum īṣus te tato rakṣanti bhūmipam But the wise ministers did not wish to carry out the king's cremation without his son; and so they kept guarding the king's body. **2.60.14** tailadroṇyāṃ tu sacivaiḥ śāyitaṃ taṃ narādhipam hā mṛto 'yam iti jñātvā striyas tāḥ paryadevayan And realizing 'Alas, he is dead!' — the lord of men laid by the ministers in the oil-trough — those women wailed aloud. **2.60.15** bāhūn udyamya kṛpaṇā netraprasravaṇair mukhaiḥ rudantyaḥ śokasaṃtaptāḥ kṛpaṇaṃ paryadevayan Raising their arms, the wretched women, weeping with faces streaming tears from their eyes, tormented by grief, lamented piteously. **2.60.16** niśānakṣatrahīneva strīva bhartṛvivarjitā purī nārājatāyodhyā hīnā rājñā mahātmanā Like a night bereft of stars, like a woman deprived of her husband, the city of Ayodhyā, robbed of its great-souled king, gave no radiance. **2.60.17** bāṣpaparyākulajanā hāhābhūtakulāṅganā śūnyacatvaraveśmāntā na babhrāja yathāpuram Its people bewildered with tears, its noble women crying 'Alas!', its squares and houses left desolate, the city no longer shone as before. **2.60.18** gataprabhā dyaur iva bhāskaraṃ vinā vyapetanakṣatragaṇeva śarvarī purī babhāse rahitā mahātmanā na cāsrakaṇṭhākulamārgacatvarā Like the sky whose brightness is gone without the sun, like a night from which the host of stars has departed, the city appeared, forsaken by its great-souled king, its roads and squares no longer thronged, its throats choked with tears. **2.60.19** narāś ca nāryaś ca sametya saṃghaśo vigarhamāṇā bharatasya mātaram tadā nagaryāṃ naradevasaṃkṣaye babhūvur ārtā na ca śarma lebhire And the men and women, gathering in throngs and reviling Bharata's mother, were then, at the death of the king, stricken with grief throughout the city, and found no comfort.