Ramayana — Ayodhya Kanda, Sarga 72, Shloka 22
भरतस्य मातृसदनगमनं कैकेय्या दारुणवृत्तान्तकथनं च
Bharata in Kaikeyi’s apartments: revelation of Daśaratha’s death and Rāma’s exile
तमार्तं देवसङ्काशं समीक्ष्य पतितं भुवि।निकृत्तमिव सालस्य स्कन्धं परशुना वने।।2.72.22।।मत्तमातङ्गसङ्काशं चन्द्रार्कसदृशं भुवः।उत्थापयित्वा शोकार्तं वचनं चेदमब्रवीत्।।2.72.23।।
tam ārtaṃ deva-saṅkāśaṃ samīkṣya patitaṃ bhuvi | nikṛttam iva sālasya skandhaṃ paraśunā vane || 2.72.22 ||
Le voyant en détresse, semblable à un deva, tombé à terre, elle le considéra tel le tronc d’un sāla abattu par la hache dans la forêt.
Anguished and griefstricken, he who resembled the gods, fell down on the ground like a trunk of the sala tree in the forest severed by an axe. Seeing her son who was like a mighty elephant or like the Sun or the Moon, Kaikeyi lifted him up from the ground and spoke these words:
FAQs
The verse highlights compassion as a dharmic response: witnessing suffering calls for attentive care rather than indifference.
Bharata collapses in grief; Kaikeyī (implied by “she”) sees him lying on the ground.
Empathy (dayā) is suggested—recognizing another’s pain as grave and real.