Ramayana — Ayodhya Kanda, Sarga 20, Shloka 51
अयोध्याकाण्डे विंशः सर्गः
Rama Enters Kauśalyā’s Antaḥpura; Ritual Preparations and the Shock of Exile
स्थिरं हि नूनं हृदयं ममायसंन भिद्यते यद्भुवि नावदीर्यते।अनेन दुःखेन च देहमर्पितंध्रुवं ह्यकाले मरणं न विद्यते।।।।
sthiraṃ hi nūnaṃ hṛdayaṃ mamāyasaṃ na bhidyate yad bhuvi nāvadīryate | anena duḥkhena ca deham arpitaṃ dhruvaṃ hy akāle maraṇaṃ na vidyate ||
निश्चय ही मेरा हृदय लोहे का है, जो न टूटता है, न पृथ्वी पर गिरकर चूर होता है। और इस दुःख को समर्पित यह देह भी अकाल मृत्यु को प्राप्त नहीं होगी—यह निश्चित है।
Surely my still (hard) heart is made of iron. It neither bursts nor breaks down on the ground. Pervaded by grief, there is no untimely death for this my body, too.
FAQs
The verse frames endurance as a grim form of duty: one may be compelled to live and bear consequences, even when escape through death seems desired.
Kausalyā continues her lament, astonished that neither her heart nor her body collapses under grief, as she faces Rāma’s departure.
Stoic endurance (though unwanted)—the capacity to remain standing under unbearable emotional weight.