Valmiki Ramayana 2.71.23: Ayodhya Kanda, Sarga 71, Shloka 23
भरतस्य अयोध्याप्रत्यागमनम्
Bharata’s Return Journey and the Distant Sight of Ayodhya
तान्यद्यानुरुदन्तीव परित्यक्तानि कामिभिः।।2.71.23।।
अरण्यभूतेव पुरी सारथे प्रतिभाति मे।
tāny adyānurudantīva parityaktāni kāmibhiḥ || 2.71.23 ||
araṇyabhūteva purī sārathe pratibhāti me |
Those gardens, abandoned today by seekers of pleasure, seem as though they are weeping; and the city, O charioteer, appears to me as if it had become a wilderness.
O charioteer, people full of passion have abandoned the gardens. To me, the city looks like a forest as if weeping.
FAQs
The verse suggests that when dharma is threatened, the very ‘habitation’ of a city—its shared joy and culture—withdraws. Moral disorder is experienced as desolation.
Rama observes the gardens empty and interprets the city’s atmosphere as mournful and unnatural.
Rama’s compassion: he perceives the collective sorrow and responds inwardly with concern rather than self-absorption.
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