Shloka 2.66.2
अयोध्यायां शोकविलापः — Lamentation in Ayodhya after Daśaratha’s death
तमग्निमिव संशान्तमम्बुहीनमिवार्णवम्।हतप्रभमिवाऽऽदित्यं स्वर्गस्थं प्रेक्ष्य पार्थिवम्।।2.66.1।। कौसल्या बाष्पपूर्णाक्षी विविधां शोककर्शिता।उपगृह्य शिरो राज्ञः कैकेयीं प्रत्यभाषत।।2.66.2।।
tam agnim iva saṅśāntam ambuhīnam ivārṇavam |
hataprabham ivādityaṃ svargasthaṃ prekṣya pārthivam ||
kausalyā bāṣpapūrṇākṣī vividhāṃ śokakarśitā |
upagṛhya śiro rājñaḥ kaikeyīṃ pratyabhāṣata ||
Seeing the king gone to heaven—like a fire suddenly quenched, like an ocean drained of water, like the sun stripped of radiance—Kausalyā, her eyes brimming with tears and worn by many griefs, lifted the king’s head and addressed 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:
The verse uses cosmic similes to show the moral and social vacuum created by the death of a righteous king—suggesting that rājadharma (right kingship) sustains the world’s order, and its collapse is felt like the loss of light and life.
Daśaratha has died. Kausalyā, overcome with grief, holds his head and turns toward Kaikeyī to speak—setting up a direct confrontation in the narrative.
Kausalyā’s frankness and moral clarity in grief: she does not suppress the truth of her suffering and is prepared to speak directly to the perceived cause.