Ramayana — Ayodhya Kanda, Sarga 102, Shloka 9
पितृमरणश्रवणं जलक्रिया च
Hearing of Daśaratha’s death and the libation rites at Mandākinī
किं नु तस्य मया कार्यं दुर्जातेन महात्मनः।यो मृतो मम शोकेन मया चापि न संस्कृतः।।।।
kiṁ nu tasya mayā kāryaṁ durjātena mahātmanaḥ |
yo mṛto mama śokena mayā cāpi na saṁskṛtaḥ || 2.102.9 ||
What purpose is served by me—ill-fated as I am—for that great-souled one, who died because of grief for me, and whom I could not even properly perform the funeral rites for?
I could not even perform the last rites of that magnanimous one who died of grief on account of me. What use is my life with an unlucky birth?
FAQs
Filial dharma and ritual responsibility: Rāma grieves that he could not fulfil the final rites, showing the moral weight given to duties toward parents.
Rāma laments that Daśaratha died grieving for him and that Rāma was absent for the funeral rites.
Accountability and remorse—Rāma judges himself harshly, revealing sincerity rather than self-justification.