Shloka 2.66.26
अयोध्यायां शोकविलापः — Lamentation in Ayodhya after Daśaratha’s death
गते तु शोकात् त्रिदिवं नराधिपे महीतलस्थासु नृपाङ्गनासु च।निवृत्तचारस्सहसा गतो रविः प्रवृत्तचारा रजनी ह्युपस्थिता।।।।
gate tu śokāt tridivaṃ narādhipe mahītalasthāsu nṛpāṅganāsu ca |
nivṛttacāraḥ sahasā gato raviḥ pravṛttacārā rajanī hy upasthitā ||
When the lord of men, stricken by grief, had gone to heaven and the royal women lay upon the earth, the sun, as though suddenly halting his course, withdrew; and night—favourable to the wanderers of darkness—arrived at once.
When king Dasaratha ascended to heaven due to grief over his son and when his wives were lying on the ground, the Sun ceased his journey and the night favourable to creatures of darkness suddenly set in.
The verse frames dharma as cosmic order: the king’s death and the household’s collapse are portrayed as a rupture so severe that even nature seems to mirror the disorder.
Daśaratha has died from grief; the queens have fallen to the ground; the scene shifts into night with ominous overtones.
Daśaratha’s profound love for Rāma is implicit—his grief is the direct cause of his passing.