Ramayana — Ayodhya Kanda, Sarga 77, Shloka 16
और्ध्वदैहिकक्रिया-शोकविलापः
Obsequies for Daśaratha and the Brothers’ Lament
अवदारणकाले तु पृथिवी नावदीर्यते।।।।या विहीना त्वया राज्ञा धर्मज्ञेन महात्मना।
avadāraṇakāle tu pṛthivī nāvadīryate | yā vihīnā tvayā rājñā dharmajñena mahātmanā ||
When it ought to split apart, the earth does not break—though it is bereft of you, the king, a great-souled knower of dharma.
With my father ascended to heaven and Rama gone to the forest, where is the strength in me to live? I shall enter the blazing fire.
FAQs
The verse upholds the ideal of a dharma-knowing king whose presence stabilizes the world; moral order is imagined as tied to righteous rule.
Bharata mourns Daśaratha, expressing that even nature should have shattered at the loss of such a righteous king.
Daśaratha’s dharma-jñāna and greatness of soul, presented as the foundation of social and cosmic stability.