Shloka 2.48.2
अयोध्यायाः शोकवर्णनम् (Ayodhya’s Lament and Civic Desolation)
तेषामेवं विषण्णानां पीडितानामतीव च।बाष्पविप्लुतनेत्राणां सशोकानां मुमूर्षया।।2.48.1।।अनुगम्य निवृत्तानां रामं नगरवासिनाम्।उद्गतानीव सत्वानि बभूवुरमनस्विनाम्।।2.48.2।।
teṣām evaṁ viṣaṇṇānāṁ pīḍitānām atīva ca |
bāṣpa-vipluta-netrāṇāṁ saśokānāṁ mumūrṣayā || 2.48.1 ||
anugamya nivṛttānāṁ rāmaṁ nagaravāsinām |
udgatānīva satvāni babhūvur amanasvinām || 2.48.2 ||
Thus those citizens—dejected and deeply afflicted, their eyes flooded with tears, smitten with grief and longing for death—who had followed Rāma and then returned to the city seemed as though their very life-breath had departed, their spirits emptied of resolve.
The people afflicted with sorrow followed Rama and returned to the city deeply distressed. Eyes overflowing with tears, they longed for death. Smitten with grief, they lost their highmindedness and looked as if their life had been drained out.
The verse highlights the social and moral shock when dharma-centered leadership is removed: the people’s anguish signals how deeply a righteous ruler anchors collective well-being.
The citizens, having tried to accompany Rāma after his exile and then returning to Ayodhya, are depicted in extreme sorrow and emotional collapse.
Rāma’s perceived righteousness and trustworthiness—so central that separation from him drains the citizens’ courage and vitality.