Ramayana — Ayodhya Kanda, Sarga 66, Shloka 28
अयोध्यायां शोकविलापः
Lamentation in Ayodhya after Daśaratha’s death
गतप्रभा द्यौरिव भास्करं विना व्यपेतनक्षत्रगणेव शर्वरी।पुरी बभासे रहिता महात्मना न चास्रकण्ठाऽकुलमार्गचत्वरा।।।।
gataprabhā dyaur iva bhāskaraṃ vinā vyapetanakṣatragaṇeva śarvarī |
purī babhāse rahitā mahātmanā na cāśrakaṇṭhākulamārgacatvarā ||
ولما خلت المدينة من ذلك الملك العظيم النفس، انطفأ بهاؤها—كسماءٍ بلا شمس، كليلةٍ خلا فيها حشدُ النجوم؛ وامتلأت طرقها ومفارقها بنشيجٍ يخنق الحناجر.
The city, bereft of illustrious Dasaratha was filled with people sobbing in the courtyards in front of their houses and in the squares in between. That city of Ayodhya bereft of brightness, appeared like the day without the Sun and the night without constellations of stars.
FAQs
The verse implies that dharmic kingship is a ‘light’ for society; when that support is removed, the collective psyche falls into darkness and confusion.
The narrator continues describing Ayodhyā’s condition after Daśaratha’s death: a cityscape transformed by grief.
Daśaratha’s role as a sustaining moral centre for the city is emphasized through the imagery of lost celestial light.