Shloka 2.48.28
अयोध्यायाः शोकवर्णनम् (Ayodhya’s Lament and Civic Desolation)
मिथ्याप्रव्राजितो राम स्ससीत स्सहलक्ष्मणः।भरते सन्निसृष्टास्स्म स्सौनिके पशवो यथा।।2.48.28।।
svaṃ svaṃ nilayam āgamya putradāraiḥ samāvṛtāḥ |
aśrūṇi mumucuḥ sarve bāṣpeṇa pihitānanāḥ || 2.48.3 ||
Returning each to their own home, surrounded by sons and wives, they all broke down in tears, their faces veiled by weeping.
Rama along with Sita and Lakshmana has been deceitfully exiled and all of us delivered to Bharata like beasts to a butcher (for protection!).
The verse highlights communal empathy and moral solidarity: society responds to adharma (a wrongful exile) with shared sorrow, showing that public conscience is sensitive to injustice.
After the shock of Rāma’s exile, the citizens disperse to their homes; grief overwhelms them in private family spaces.
Not a single hero’s virtue, but the citizens’ collective compassion and loyalty—an ethical sensitivity toward righteousness and rightful kingship.