Shloka 2.21.26

अयोध्याकाण्डे एकविंशः सर्गः — Lakṣmaṇa’s militant counsel and Rāma’s dharma-based persuasion of Kausalyā

Devanagari script

यदि त्वं यास्यसि वनं त्यक्त्वा मां शोकलालसाम्।अहं प्रायमिहासिष्ये न हि शक्ष्यामि जीवितुम्।।2.21.26।।

Transliteration

yadi tvaṃ yāsyasi vanaṃ tyaktvā māṃ śokalālasām | ahaṃ prāyam ihāsiṣye na hi śakṣyāmi jīvitum || 2.21.26 ||

Translation

If you go to the forest, leaving me overwhelmed by sorrow, I will undertake fasting unto death here—for I truly will not be able to live.

Context

If you depart for the forest leaving me grief-stricken I cannot live. Here I shall seek death by fasting.

Characters & Entities

• Kausalyā
• Rāma
• Vana (forest)
• Prāya (fasting unto death)

FAQs

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

Kausalyā frames her life as inseparable from her dharmic relationship to Rāma; the threat of prāya underscores the moral weight she places on not being abandoned.

What is the narrative situation?

In desperation, Kausalyā warns that Rāma’s departure will lead her to fast unto death.

Which character virtue is emphasized?

Intensity of maternal devotion (vātsalya) and the extremity of grief when dharmic bonds appear broken.