Shloka 2.40.29
प्रयाणवर्णनम् (Departure from Ayodhya; Civic Lament and the Chariot’s Urgency)
शुश्रुवे चाग्रतः स्त्रीणां रुदन्तीनां महास्वनः।यथा नादः करेणूनां बद्धे महति कुञ्जरे।।।।
śuśruve cāgrataḥ strīṇāṃ rudantīnāṃ mahā-svanaḥ | yathā nādaḥ kareṇūnāṃ baddhe mahati kuñjare ||
And ahead he heard the great wailing of women crying, like the trumpeting of cow-elephants when a mighty bull elephant has been bound.
He heard the women crying loudly in front like wailings of cow-elephants when their bull elephant is captured.
The verse underscores the social cost of dharmic upheaval: when the righteous are separated from their place, collective suffering erupts—dharma is not abstract but affects an entire community.
As the king comes out, he hears intense lamentation from the women, described through an evocative elephant simile.
Not a single virtue but the depth of shared loyalty and attachment within the royal household, expressed as uncontrollable grief.