Shloka 2.66.1
अयोध्यायां शोकविलापः — Lamentation in Ayodhya after Daśaratha’s death
तमग्निमिव संशान्तमम्बुहीनमिवार्णवम्।हतप्रभमिवाऽऽदित्यं स्वर्गस्थं प्रेक्ष्य पार्थिवम्।।।।कौसल्या बाष्पपूर्णाक्षी विविधां शोककर्शिता।उपगृह्य शिरो राज्ञः कैकेयीं प्रत्यभाषत।।।।
tam agnim iva saṁśāntam ambuhīnam ivārṇavam | hataprabham ivādityaṁ svargasthaṁ prekṣya pārthivam ||
kausalyā bāṣpapūrṇākṣī vividhāṁ śokakarśitā | upagṛhya śiro rājñaḥ kaikeyīṁ pratyabhāṣata ||
Seeing the king gone to heaven—like a fire abruptly quenched, like an ocean bereft of water, like the sun stripped of radiance—Kausalyā, her eyes brimming with tears and wasted by many forms of grief, lifted the king’s head onto her lap and spoke to Kaikeyī.
On seeing the king who ascended the heaven just as a blazing fire suddenly extinguishes, or like the ocean emptied of water or the Sun bereft of splendour Kausalya raised the head of the king on to her lap, her eyes filled with tears and body shrunk in sorrow, looked at Kaikeyi and said:
It foregrounds the moral weight of actions within family and kingship: when dharma is disrupted, the household and realm experience collapse symbolized by extinguished fire and dimmed sun.
After Daśaratha’s death, Kausalyā discovers him, grieves intensely, and turns to address Kaikeyī—setting up a confrontation shaped by duty, truth, and consequence.
Kausalyā’s steadfastness in grief and her commitment to speak directly—holding to truthfulness and moral clarity even amid personal devastation.