Valmiki Ramayana 2.72.5 — Ayodhya Kanda, Sarga 72, Shloka 5

भरतस्य मातृसदनगमनं कैकेय्या दारुणवृत्तान्तकथनं च

Bharata in Kaikeyi’s apartments: revelation of Daśaratha’s death and Rāma’s exile

Devanagari script

अद्य ते कतिचिद्रात्र्य श्च्युतस्याऽर्यकवेश्मनः।अपि नाध्वश्रमशशीघ्रं रथेनापततस्तव।।2.72.5।।

Transliteration

adya te katicidrātryaś cyutasyāryakaveśmanaḥ | api nādhvaśramaśaśīghraṁ rathenāpatatas tava || 2.72.5 ||

Translation

Wie viele Nächte sind dir vergangen, seit du die Wohnstatt deines edlen Großvaters verlassen hast? Und hat dich die eilige Fahrt im Wagen nicht von der Mühsal des Weges ermattet?

Word by Word

• adya: today/by now
• adya: Kāla (काल)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: adya (अव्यय)
• Form: Adverb (कालवाचक अव्यय)

• te: your
• te: Sambandha (षष्ठी-सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tvad (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Pronoun, Genitive (6th/षष्ठी) Singular; ‘of you/your’

• katicit: how many/some
• katicit: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: kati (प्रातिपदिक) + cit (अव्यय)
• Form: Indefinite numeral adjective (अनिश्चितसंख्यावाचक), Accusative Plural (agreeing with rātryaḥ)

• rātryaḥ: nights
• rātryaḥ: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: rātri (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Feminine, Accusative Plural (द्वितीया बहुवचन)

• cyutasya: of (you) having departed
• cyutasya: Sambandha (षष्ठी-सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: cyuta (च्युत) (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Past passive participle (क्त) from √cyu ‘to fall/leave’, Masculine/Neuter Genitive Singular; qualifying ‘te’ understood: ‘of you who have departed’

• āryakaveśmanaḥ: from (your) grandfather’s residence
• āryakaveśmanaḥ: Apādāna (अपादान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: āryaka + veśman (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter, Ablative (5th/पञ्चमी), Singular; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष: āryaka (‘grandfather’) + veśman (‘house’): ‘from grandfather’s house’

• api: perhaps/indeed (in question)
• api: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/particle)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: api (अव्यय)
• Form: Particle (सम्भावना/प्रश्नार्थक)

• na: not
• na: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/particle)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: na (अव्यय)
• Form: Negation particle (निषेध)

• adhvaśramaḥ: journey-fatigue
• adhvaśramaḥ: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: adhvaśrama (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative Singular; तत्पुरुष: adhvan (‘journey’) + śrama (‘fatigue’)

• śaśīghram: very swiftly
• śaśīghram: Kriyāviśeṣaṇa (क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: śīghram (अव्यय) with śa- intensifier
• Form: Adverb (रीत्यर्थक अव्यय), ‘very quickly’ (textual variant/orthography śaśīghram)

• rathena: by chariot
• rathena: Karaṇa (करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: ratha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Instrumental Singular

• āpatataḥ: while coming swiftly
• āpatataḥ: Kriyāviśeṣaṇa (क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Verb
• Root: ā + pat (आ + पत्) (धातु)
• Form: Present active participle (शतृ), Genitive Singular; agreeing with tava/te: ‘of you while coming/rushing’

• tava: of you
• tava: Sambandha (षष्ठी-सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tvad (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Pronoun, Genitive Singular

Context

I hope he did not covet another man's wife. Like a sinner who had slain a child in embryo why has he been banished to Dandaka forest?

Characters & Entities

• Kaikeyī
• Bharata

FAQs

What is the core ethical principle (Dharma) in this verse?

The verse frames familial concern and proper reception of a returning son as part of household dharma—asking after wellbeing before entering weightier matters.

What is the narrative situation?

Bharata has returned from his maternal family’s home; Kaikeyī questions him about the duration and strain of his journey.

Which character virtue is emphasized?

Outward solicitude and the social propriety of inquiring about a traveller’s condition.