Valmiki Ramayana 2.13.26: Ayodhya Kanda, Sarga 13, Shloka 26
अयोध्याकाण्डे त्रयोदशः सर्गः | Kaikeyi Presses the Boons; Dasaratha’s Lament and Collapse
Setting: Ayodhyā (palace, king’ s quarters/adjacent chamber)
इतीव राज्ञो व्यथितस्य सा निशा जगाम घोरं श्वसतो मनस्विनः ।
विबोध्यमानः प्रतिबोधनं तदा निवारयामास स राजसत्तमः ॥२६॥
itīva rājño vyathitasya sā niśā jagāma ghoraṃ śvasato manasvinaḥ |
vibodhyamānaḥ pratibodhanaṃ tadā nivārayāmāsa sa rājasattamaḥ ||26||
राजा की रात बहुत बुरी गुज़री। वो दुखी था, साँस चल रही थी। सुबह जब लोग नींद से जगाने लगे, राजा ने उन्हें रोका। बोला, मुझे मत जगाओ।
Sandhi Notes
- इतीव → इति इव
- निशाजगाम → निशा जगाम
- श्वसतो मनस्विनः (both genitive qualifiers)
- प्रतिबोधनं तदा निवारयामास (object + verb)
The night passed off with the high-minded king lamenting this way and heaving deep sighs. When he got up, the eminent king stopped (the panegyrists) awakening him.ityārṣē śrīmadrāmāyaṇē vālmīkīya ādikāvyē ayōdhyākāṇḍē trayōdaśassargaḥ৷৷Thus ends the thirteenth sarga of Ayodhyakanda of the holy Ramayana, the first epic composed by sage Valmiki.
The teaching
Sorrow can suspend even rightful routines; dharma requires inner steadiness so that prescribed duties are not abandoned under emotional storm.
Duties in tension
- King’ s daily royal duties/ritual order vs incapacitating grief
- Maintaining composure for governance vs personal despair over impending exile
- Ethical theme
- Svadharma endurance / rājadharma
- How it resolves
- Temporary withdrawal (avoidance)
For your practice
Night-vigil reflection: observe breath and grief without being ruled by it; supports prāṇāyāma-informed mindfulness and cultivation of śānti.
Mood and themes
- Rasa
- Karuna (compassion), with Shanta (peace)
- Mood
- Sleepless, dread-laden, exhausted
Themes
- Dharma
- Satya
- Itihasa
- Kingship
- Sorrow
The interruption of the prescribed morning awakening ritual suggests how inner turmoil overrides external rites; mind (manas) dominates experience when afflicted.
Breath (prāṇa) and sighing as indicators of inner state recalls Upanishadic linkage of prāṇa with consciousness and suffering.
Rātri
- Dasharatha and Kaikeyi
- Ongoing estrangement causing sleepless night (tormented)
- Dasharatha and Rama
- Father’ s grief through the night (implied) (anguished)
Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.14 (night of grief and insomnia motifs); Rāmacaritamānasa Ayodhyākāṇḍa (night-long anguish before the exile events unfold)
Courtly ‘ prabodha’ (royal awakening) conventions known from kāvya and nāṭya traditions, here negated by grief
2.15 (morning consequences and announcements); 2.20 (Rāma’ s calm acceptance contrasting the king’ s turmoil)
Anuṣṭubh
Solemn, weary narrative
Slow madhyama, fading cadence on niśā jagāma / nivārayāmāsa
FAQs
Dharma here appears as the human cost of righteous obligation: the king’s inner turmoil shows how adherence to truth-bound commitments can bring intense suffering.
Daśaratha spends a dreadful night in grief; in the morning he prevents the customary waking by court bards.
Manas (nobility of mind): even in anguish, the king’s conduct reflects dignity and restraint.
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