Shloka 2.41.21
अयोध्यायाः शोकप्रकम्पः (Ayodhya’s Tremor of Grief and Omens)
ततस्त्वयोध्या रहिता महात्मनापुरन्दरेणेव मही सपर्वता।चचाल घोरं भयशोकपीडितासनागयोधाश्वगणा ननाद च।।2.41.21।।
tatas tv ayodhyā rahitā mahātmanā purandareṇeva mahī saparvatā | cacāla ghoraṃ bhayaśokapīḍitā sanāgayodhāśvagaṇā nanāda ca || 2.41.21 ||
Then Ayodhya, bereft of the great-souled Rama, was like the earth with its mountains bereft of Indra. Stricken by fear and sorrow, it trembled terribly, resounding with its hosts of elephants, horses, and warriors.
Without magnanimous Rama, Ayodhya thereafter looked like the earth along with its mountains bereft of Indra. Afflicted with fear and sorrow it started shaking dreadfully with the sounds of horses, elephants and warriors.ityārṣē śrīmadrāmāyaṇē vālmīkīya ādikāvyē ayōdhyākāṇḍē ēkacatvāriṅśassargaḥ৷৷Thus ends the fortyfirst sarga of Ayodhyakanda of the holy Ramayana, the first epic composed by sage Valmiki.
The verse asserts that dharmic leadership is a stabilizing force: without the righteous protector, the polity loses steadiness and confidence, just as mythic order falters without Indra.
The sarga closes by portraying Ayodhya’s condition after Rama’s exile—leaderless in spirit, shaken by fear and grief, and loud with anxious movement of people and animals.
Rama’s mahātmatā (greatness of soul) and his role as a pillar of order—his absence is equated with the loss of a cosmic guardian.