Valmiki Ramayana 2.20.38: Ayodhya Kanda, Sarga 20, Shloka 38
अयोध्याकाण्डे विंशः सर्गः · Rama Enters Kauśalyā’s Antaḥpura; Ritual Preparations and the Shock of Exile
Spoken by Kausalya to RamaSetting: Ayodhya
न दृष्टपूर्वं कल्याणं सुखं वा पतिपौरुषे ।
अपि पुत्रे ऽपि पश्येयमिति रामाऽस्थितं मया ॥३८॥
na dṛṣṭapūrvaṃ kalyāṇaṃ sukhaṃ vā patipauruṣe |
api putre ’pi paśyeyam iti rāmāsthitam mayā ||38||
राम, जब तक तुम्हारे पिताजी राज कर रहे थे, मैंने कभी खुशी नहीं देखी। मैं सिर्फ यह उम्मीद से जी रही थी कि जब तुम बड़े हो जाओगे, तब मैं अच्छे दिन देख पाऊँगी।
Sandhi Notes
- putreऽpi → putre + api
- rāmāऽस्थितं → rāma + āsthitam (vowel sandhi)
- dṛṣṭapūrvaṅ → dṛṣṭapūrvam
I did not have the fortune, O Rama, to enjoy any auspicious moment or pleasure earlier when my husband was in authority. I exist with the hope that I will have it when my son assumes authority.
The teaching
Happiness sought through power and position is fragile; dharma may overturn long-nurtured hopes.
Duties in tension
- Queen’s expectation of security through succession vs acceptance of dharma-driven exile
- Personal grievance within marriage vs reverence for kingly order
- Ethical theme
- Artha/kāma vs dharma
- How it resolves
- Recognition of worldly instability (toward detachment)
For your practice
Practice of offering expectations (āśā) into īśvara-prāṇidhāna; reflect on where one locates sukha—externally or inwardly.
Mood and themes
- Rasa
- Karuna (compassion), with Shanta (peace)
- Mood
- Disillusioned, hope-fractured, confessional
Themes
- Dharma
- Satya
- Ethics
- Queenship
- Hope
- Power and legitimacy
Reliance on external agency (power, position) for sukha is unstable; true ānanda is not contingent on ‘who holds power’.
Chāndogya’s teaching that worldly attainments are finite; Kaushalyā’s deferred hope illustrates the finitude of laukika sukha.
- Kausalya and Rama
- Mother confiding long-held hope in son’s future reign (sorrowful)
- Kausalya and Dasharatha
- Wife-husband; disappointment under husband’s rule (bitter-sad)
- Rama and Dasharatha
- Son-father; succession expectation (dutiful)
Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.20.36-37 (Kaushalyā’s grief logic); Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.20.39 (fear of co-wives’ taunts)
Rāmacaritamānasa Ayodhyākāṇḍa: queens’ lament at exile (parallel emotional register)
Ayodhyākāṇḍa: coronation preparations and reversal (2.18-2.19 context)
Anuṣṭup
Grieving
Descending phrases with emphasis on kalyāṇa/sukha, ending in soft nyāsa
FAQs
The verse reflects the dharmic expectation of rightful succession and protection: Kausalyā’s hope is tied to her son’s legitimate rule, which in the epic is linked with welfare, justice, and order.
Kausalyā explains that her life was carried by the expectation of Rāma’s coronation, which is now overturned by the exile.
Rāma’s role as the bearer of righteous sovereignty is implied—his rule is imagined as a source of ‘kalyāṇa’ for his mother and the realm.
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