# Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa 96 — The mothers reach Rāma’s hut *Kausalyā grieves over Daśaratha’s humble offering, the mothers greet Rāma, Lakṣmaṇa & Sītā and the assembly gathers* Portion: The reunion and mourning for Daśaratha · Verses: 29 · Ref format: 2.96. ## Sequence - Vasiṣṭha proceeds toward the hermitage with the Queens walking ahead of him (96.1) - at the Mandākinī, Kausalyā points out the place where Lakṣmaṇa fetches water for Rāma (96.2–5) - she sees the simple food offering for Daśaratha on grass whose tips face south (96.6–8) - Kausalyā weeps that a King who enjoyed such abundance is now being offered forest fare by a son who once possessed so much (96.9–12) - the other women comfort her and continue to the hut → Rāma bows to all his mothers, who touch him affectionately and wipe the dust from his body (96.13–16) - Lakṣmaṇa and Sītā also greet them (96.17–19) - Kausalyā embraces Sītā and grieves over the effect of forest life on her (96.20–23) - Rāma honors Vasiṣṭha, and the family, ministers, and elders sit together → everyone waits to hear Bharata's appeal (96.24–29). ## Verses **2.96.1** vasiṣṭhaḥ purataḥ kṛtvā dārān daśarathasya ca abhicakrāma taṃ deśaṃ rāmadarśanatarṣitaḥ Vasiṣṭha, setting the wives of Daśaratha in front, advanced toward that place, thirsting for the sight of Rāma. **2.96.2** rājapatnyaś ca gacchantyo mandaṃ mandākinīṃ prati dadṛśus tatra tat tīrthaṃ rāmalakṣmaṇasevitam And the king's wives, going slowly toward the Mandākinī, saw there that landing-place frequented by Rāma and Lakṣmaṇa. **2.96.3** kausalyā bāṣpapūrṇena mukhena pariśuṣyatā sumitrām abravīd dīnā yāś cānyā rājayoṣitaḥ Kausalyā, wretched, with a face brimming with tears and drawn with grief, spoke to Sumitrā and to the other royal women: **2.96.4** idaṃ teṣām anāthānāṃ kliṣṭam akliṣṭa karmaṇām vane prāk kevalaṃ tīrthaṃ ye te nirviṣayī kṛtāḥ This wretched bathing-place is now in the forest the sole resort of those masterless ones of untiring deeds, who have been deprived of their realm. **2.96.5** itaḥ sumitre putras te sadā jalam atandritaḥ svayaṃ harati saumitrir mama putrasya kāraṇāt From here, Sumitrā, your son Saumitri, never slack, ever fetches water himself for the sake of my son. **2.96.6** dakṣiṇāgreṣu darbheṣu sā dadarśa mahītale pitur iṅgudipiṇyākaṃ nyastam āyatalocanā The large-eyed queen saw upon the ground, on darbha grasses with their tips turned southward, the iṅgudī-cake laid out for [Rāma's] father. **2.96.7** taṃ bhūmau pitur ārtena nyastaṃ rāmeṇa vīkṣya sā uvāca devī kausalyā sarvā daśarathastriyaḥ Beholding that offering, laid on the ground for his father by grieving Rāma, Queen Kausalyā spoke to all the wives of Daśaratha: **2.96.8** idam ikṣvākunāthasya rāghavasya mahātmanaḥ rāghaveṇa pitur dattaṃ paśyataitad yathāvidhi Behold this offering, made according to the rite by Rāghava for his father, the great-souled scion of Raghu, lord of the Ikṣvākus! **2.96.9** tasya devasamānasya pārthivasya mahātmanaḥ naitad aupayikaṃ manye bhuktabhogasya bhojanam For that great-souled king, godlike, who once enjoyed every delight, I do not think this food is fitting. **2.96.10** caturantāṃ mahīṃ bhuktvā mahendra sadṛśo bhuvi katham iṅgudipiṇyākaṃ sa bhuṅkte vasudhādhipaḥ Having enjoyed the earth bounded on all four sides, like great Indra upon the world—how does that lord of the earth now partake of an iṅgudī-cake? **2.96.11** ato duḥkhataraṃ loke na kiṃ cit pratibhāti mā yatra rāmaḥ pitur dadyād iṅgudīkṣodam ṛddhimān Nothing in the world appears to me more grievous than this—that prosperous Rāma should offer his father a mash of iṅgudī. **2.96.12** rāmeṇeṅgudipiṇyākaṃ pitur dattaṃ samīkṣya me kathaṃ duḥkhena hṛdayaṃ na sphoṭati sahasradhā Seeing the iṅgudī-cake offered by Rāma to his father, how does my heart not burst asunder into a thousand pieces from grief? **2.96.13** evam ārtāṃ sapatnyas tā jagmur āśvāsya tāṃ tadā dadṛśuś cāśrame rāmaṃ svargāc cyutam ivāmaram Then the co-wives, having consoled her thus grief-stricken, went on, and saw Rāma in the hermitage, like an immortal fallen from heaven. **2.96.14** sarvabhogaiḥ parityaktaṃ rāma saṃprekṣya mātaraḥ ārtā mumucur aśrūṇi sasvaraṃ śokakarśitāḥ Beholding Rāma bereft of every comfort, the mothers, stricken and wasted with grief, shed tears aloud. **2.96.15** tāsāṃ rāmaḥ samutthāya jagrāha caraṇāñ śubhān mātṝṇāṃ manujavyāghraḥ sarvāsāṃ satyasaṃgaraḥ Rising up, Rāma, the tiger among men, true to his word, clasped the auspicious feet of all those mothers. **2.96.16** tāḥ pāṇibhiḥ sukhasparśair mṛdvaṅgulitalaiḥ śubhaiḥ pramamārjū rajaḥ pṛṣṭhād rāmasyāyatalocanāḥ Those large-eyed women, with their hands soft to the touch, with tender fingers and palms, wiped the dust from Rāma's back. **2.96.17** saumitrir api tāḥ sarvā mātṝh saṃprekṣya duḥkhitaḥ abhyavādayatāsaktaṃ śanai rāmād anantaram Saumitri too, grieved, beholding all those mothers, saluted them without pause, gently, right after Rāma had done so. **2.96.18** yathā rāme tathā tasmin sarvā vavṛtire striyaḥ vṛttiṃ daśarathāj jāte lakṣmaṇe śubhalakṣaṇe All those women behaved toward Lakṣmaṇa of auspicious marks, born of Daśaratha, with the very conduct they showed toward Rāma. **2.96.19** sītāpi caraṇāṃs tāsām upasaṃgṛhya duḥkhitā śvaśrūṇām aśrupūrṇākṣī sā babhūvāgrataḥ sthitā Sītā too, grieved, having clasped the feet of those mothers-in-law, her eyes brimming with tears, stood before them. **2.96.20** tāṃ pariṣvajya duḥkhārtāṃ mātā duhitaraṃ yathā vanavāsakṛśāṃ dīnāṃ kausalyā vākyam abravīt Embracing her—pained with grief, wretched, and worn thin by forest life—as a mother embraces a daughter, Kausalyā spoke these words: **2.96.21** videharājasya sutā snuṣā daśarathasya ca rāmapatnī kathaṃ duḥkhaṃ saṃprāptā nirjane vane How has the daughter of the king of Videha, the daughter-in-law of Daśaratha, the wife of Rāma, come to such misery in a desolate forest? **2.96.22** padmam ātapasaṃtaptaṃ parikliṣṭam ivotpalam kāñcanaṃ rajasā dhvastaṃ kliṣṭaṃ candram ivāmbudaiḥ Like a lotus scorched by heat, like a wilted water-lily, like gold dimmed by dust, like the moon obscured by clouds— **2.96.23** mukhaṃ te prekṣya māṃ śoko dahaty agnir ivāśrayam bhṛśaṃ manasi vaidehi vyasanāraṇisaṃbhavaḥ Beholding your face, O Vaidehī, grief—kindled as from the fire-stick of calamity—burns me sorely in my heart, as fire consumes its own vessel. **2.96.24** bruvantyām evam ārtāyāṃ jananyāṃ bharatāgrajaḥ pādāv āsādya jagrāha vasiṣṭhasya sa rāghavaḥ While his grief-stricken mother was speaking thus, that Rāghava, the elder brother of Bharata, approached and clasped Vasiṣṭha's feet. **2.96.25** purohitasyāgnisamasya tasya vai bṛhaspater indra ivāmarādhipaḥ pragṛhya pādau susamṛddhatejasaḥ sahaiva tenopaviveśa rāghavaḥ pragṛhya pādau susamṛddhatejasaḥ sahaiva tenopaviveśa rāghavaḥ Clasping the feet of that family priest, equal to fire and of abundant splendor—as the lord of the immortals clasps the feet of Bṛhaspati—Rāghava sat down together with him. **2.96.26** tato jaghanyaṃ sahitaiḥ sa mantribhiḥ purapradhānaiś ca sahaiva sainikaiḥ janena dharmajñatamena dharmavān upopaviṣṭo bharatas tadāgrajam janena dharmajñatamena dharmavān upopaviṣṭo bharatas tadāgrajam Then the righteous Bharata, together with the ministers and the city elders and the soldiers, and with people most versed in dharma, sat down behind, close to his elder brother. **2.96.27** upopaviṣṭas tu tadā sa vīryavāṃs tapasviveṣeṇa samīkṣya rāghavam śriyā jvalantaṃ bharataḥ kṛtāñjalir yathā mahendraḥ prayataḥ prajāpatim śriyā jvalantaṃ bharataḥ kṛtāñjalir yathā mahendraḥ prayataḥ prajāpatim Then the valiant Bharata, having sat down and gazed upon Rāghava—who blazed with majesty even in ascetic's garb—saluted him with joined palms, as reverent Indra salutes Prajāpati. **2.96.28** kim eṣa vākyaṃ bharato 'dya rāghavaṃ praṇamya satkṛtya ca sādhu vakṣyati itīva tasyāryajanasya tattvato babhūva kautūhalam uttamaṃ tadā itīva tasyāryajanasya tattvato babhūva kautūhalam uttamaṃ tadā “What will this Bharata, bowing to Rāghava and honoring him, now fittingly say?”—such indeed was then the intense curiosity of that assembly of noble folk. **2.96.29** sa rāghavaḥ satyadhṛtiś ca lakṣmaṇo mahānubhāvo bharataś ca dhārmikaḥ vṛtāḥ suhṛdbhiś ca virejur adhvare yathā sadasyaiḥ sahitās trayo 'gnayaḥ vṛtāḥ suhṛdbhiś ca virejur adhvare yathā sadasyaiḥ sahitās trayo 'gnayaḥ That Rāghava, and Lakṣmaṇa of true resolve, and the noble, righteous Bharata, surrounded by their kinsmen, shone forth like the three sacred fires attended by the officiants at a sacrifice.