Shloka 2.77.17
और्ध्वदैहिकक्रिया-शोकविलापः (Obsequies for Daśaratha and the Brothers’ Lament)
पितरि स्वर्गमापन्ने रामे चारण्यमाश्रिते।।।।किं मे जीवितसामर्थ्यं प्रवेक्ष्यामि हुताशनम्।
avadāraṇakāle tu pṛthivī nāvadīryate | yā vihīnā tvayā rājñā dharmajñena mahātmanā ||
When it ought to split asunder, the earth does not break—though it is bereft of you, O king, great-souled and knowing of dharma.
With my father ascended to heaven and Rama gone to the forest, where is the strength in me to live? I shall enter the blazing fire.
The verse upholds the ideal of a dharma-knowing king whose presence stabilizes the world; moral order is imagined as tied to righteous rule.
Bharata mourns Daśaratha, expressing that even nature should have shattered at the loss of such a righteous king.
Daśaratha’s dharma-jñāna and greatness of soul, presented as the foundation of social and cosmic stability.