Ramayana — Ayodhya Kanda, Sarga 48, Shloka 3
अयोध्यायाः शोकवर्णनम्
Ayodhya’s Lament and Civic Desolation
स्वं स्वं निलयमागम्य पुत्रदारैस्समावृता।अश्रूणि मुमुचुस्सर्वे बाष्पेण पिहिताननाः।।2.48.3।।
svaṃ svaṃ nilayam āgamya putradāraiḥ samāvṛtāḥ |
aśrūṇi mumucuḥ sarve bāṣpeṇa pihitānanāḥ || 2.48.3 ||
Having returned each to their own home, surrounded by sons and wives, the people all broke down, their faces veiled by tears as they wept.
Rama along with Sita and Lakshmana has been deceitfully exiled and all of us delivered to Bharata like beasts to a butcher (for protection!).
FAQs
The verse highlights communal empathy and moral solidarity: society responds to adharma (a wrongful exile) with shared sorrow, showing that public conscience is sensitive to injustice.
After the shock of Rāma’s exile, the citizens disperse to their homes; grief overwhelms them in private family spaces.
Not a single hero’s virtue, but the citizens’ collective compassion and loyalty—an ethical sensitivity toward righteousness and rightful kingship.