Shloka 2.33.20
त्रयस्त्रिंशः सर्गः — Civic Lament and Rama’s Dutiful Approach to Daśaratha
समुद्धृतनिधानानि परिध्वस्ताजिराणि च।उपात्त धनधान्यानि हृतसाराणि सर्वशः।।2.33.18।।रजसाभ्यवकीर्णानि परित्यक्तानि दैवतैः।मूषकैःपरिधावद्भिरुद्बिलैरावृतानि च।।2.33.19।।अपेतोदकधूमानि हीनसम्मार्जनानि च।प्रणष्टबलिकर्मेज्यामन्त्रहोमजपानि च।।2.33.20।।दुष्कालेनेव भग्नानि भिन्नभाजनवन्ति च।अस्मात्त्यक्तानि वेश्मानि कैकेयी प्रतिपद्यताम्।।2.33.21।।
bilāni daṃṣṭriṇaḥ sarve sānūni mṛga-pakṣiṇaḥ |
tyajantu asmad-bhayād bhītā gajāḥ siṃhā vanāni ca ||
asmat-tyaktaṃ prapadyantāṃ sevyamānaṃ tyajantu ca |
Let all fanged beasts forsake their dens, and birds and animals their mountain-slopes; let elephants and lions, frightened by the dread of our presence, abandon their forests. Then let them enter what we have left behind, and vacate the places we now inhabit.
Let Kaikeyi take possession of our deserted and dilapidated homes with ruined courtyards which seem as though struck by calamities. They are drained of wealth and foodgrains, covered with dust and abandoned by the gods. There is no water or smoke (from kitchen). They are infested with rats. They stand unswept. There foodgrains lie around ratholes, and broken earthenwares lie scattered. There are no offerings, no sacrifices, no recitation of sacred hymns, no libations and no invocations.
The verse uses reversal imagery to express moral protest: when dharma is displaced, the natural and social orders seem to exchange places.
Citizens poetically imagine wildlife taking over the emptied city as they move into the forest with Rāma.
Collective courage and resolve—people are willing to face the wilderness for the sake of dharma and loyalty.