Shloka 2.103.14
पिण्डदानदर्शनम् — The Queens Behold Rama’s Śrāddha Offering
रामेणेङ्गुदिपिण्याकं पितुर्दत्तं समीक्ष्य मे।कथं दुःखेन हृदयं न स्फोटति सहस्रधा।।2.103.14।।
rāmeṇeṅgudipiṇyākaṃ pitur dattaṃ samīkṣya me | kathaṃ duḥkhena hṛdayaṃ na sphoṭati sahasradhā ||
Seeing Rama offer his father a simple cake made from iṅgudī pulp, how does my heart not shatter into a thousand pieces from grief?
Seeing the offering of cake of ingudi pulp by Rama to his father, how is it that my heart does not break into a thousand pieces in sorrow?
The verse highlights filial dharma: Rama continues to honor his father through offerings, even in hardship; the mother’s grief underscores the cost of righteousness when lived without compromise.
Kausalya, distressed in exile-time events, sees Rama making a humble food-offering to Dasaratha and is overwhelmed by the contrast between royal life and forest austerity.
Rama’s steadfast dutifulness—maintaining reverence and ritual obligation toward his father despite exile and deprivation.