Shloka 2.67.30
अयोध्यायां शोक-रात्रिः तथा अराजक-राष्ट्रस्य नीतिविचारः (The Night of Lamentation in Ayodhya and the Political Ethics of a Kingless Realm)
ध्वजो रथस्य प्रज्ञानं धूमो ज्ञानं विभावसोः।तेषां यो नो ध्वजो राजा स देवत्वमितो गतः।।।।
dhvajo rathasya prajñānaṃ dhūmo jñānaṃ vibhāvasoḥ |
teṣāṃ yo no dhvajo rājā sa devatvam ito gataḥ || 2.67.30 ||
A banner is the sign by which a chariot is recognized; smoke is the sign by which fire is known. So too, the king was the distinguishing emblem by which we were known—and that king has now departed from here to the world of the gods.
The pennant is an identification for one's chariot. Smoke is a mark of identifying fire. All of us are recognised by the pennant (magnanimity) of the king and such a king has gone to heaven.
The verse teaches that righteous kingship functions as a public sign of order and identity—like a banner or smoke—making social life intelligible and stable; the king’s dharma is to be that visible guarantor of lawful order.
After Daśaratha’s death, the court and leading brāhmaṇas reflect on the loss of the king and stress the urgency of restoring kingship for the kingdom’s stability.
The king’s magnanimity and public-spirited leadership—his role as the kingdom’s identifying standard and stabilizing presence.