Shloka 2.40.35
प्रयाणवर्णनम् (Departure from Ayodhya; Civic Lament and the Chariot’s Urgency)
सुस्राव नयनैः स्त्रीणामस्रमायाससम्भवम्।मीनसङ्क्षोभचलितै स्सलिलं पङ्कजैरिव।।।।
susrāva nayanaiḥ strīṇām aśram āyāsasambhavam | mīnasaṅkṣobhacalitaiḥ salilaṃ paṅkajair iva ||
From the women’s eyes flowed tears born of anguish, like drops of water slipping from lotuses shaken by the stirring of fish.
Tears born of anguish fell from the eyes of women just as water-drops fall from lotuses shaken by the movements of fishes.
Dharma here is reflected through compassion and shared suffering: the community emotionally participates in the righteous one’s hardship, showing that dharma is not merely law but lived feeling and moral solidarity.
Women in the city weep intensely as Rāma leaves, and the poet describes their tears through a vivid nature simile.
The people’s bhakti-like devotion and tenderness toward Rāma, responding to his dharmic exile with empathetic grief.