Shloka 2.20.45
अयोध्याकाण्डे विंशः सर्गः — Rama Enters Kauśalyā’s Antaḥpura; Ritual Preparations and the Shock of Exile
दश सप्त च वर्षाणि जातस्य तव राघवअतितानि प्रकाङ्क्षन्त्या मया दुःखपरिक्षयम्।।।।
daśa sapta ca varṣāṇi jātasya tava rāghava atītāni prakāṅkṣantyā mayā duḥkhaparikṣayam ||
O Rāghava, seventeen years have passed since you came of age, and all that time I have lived longing for the end of my sorrow.
O Rama, I have spent the last seventeen years after your birth with the expectaion that my sorrows would come to an end.
The verse reflects steadfastness (dhṛti) in adversity—enduring suffering while holding to rightful hopes rather than turning to wrongdoing.
Kausalyā recalls the long period during which she hoped Rāma’s maturity and future kingship would end her grief, only to see that hope shattered by the exile order.
Perseverance and maternal devotion—she has endured years of pain sustained by faith in her son’s destiny.