Shloka 2.41.10
अयोध्यायाः शोकप्रकम्पः (Ayodhya’s Tremor of Grief and Omens)
व्यसृजन् कबलान्नागा गावो वत्सान्न पाययन्।पुत्रं प्रथमजं लब्ध्वा जननी नाभ्यनन्दत।।2.41.10।।
vyasṛjan kabalān nāgā gāvo vatsān na pāyayan |
putraṁ prathamajaṁ labdhvā jananī nābhyanandata ||
Elephants let fall their mouthfuls; cows did not let their calves suckle; even mothers, having borne their firstborn sons, found no joy—such was the heaviness of the moment.
Elephants dropped their morsel of food. Cows did not suckle their calves. Even the mothers were not pleased with their first-born sons.
The verse underscores how a dharmic crisis affects the whole realm: when righteousness is strained by injustice, even ordinary life loses its natural harmony.
As Rāma’s departure nears, unsettling signs appear in the kingdom—animals and people behave contrary to normal well-being.
Not a single character’s virtue, but the ideal of rājyadharma: the health of the kingdom mirrors the moral order.