Valmiki Ramayana 2.40.21: Ayodhya Kanda, Sarga 40, Shloka 21
प्रयाणवर्णनम्
Departure from Ayodhya; Civic Lament and the Chariot’s Urgency
Spoken by Citizens of Ayodhya to SumantraSetting: Ayodhya (city outskirts/royal road as the chariot departs)Departure from Ayodhya toward exile-route
पार्श्वतः पृष्ठतश्चापि लम्बमानास्तदुन्मुखाः ।
बाष्पपूर्णमुखास्सर्वे तमूचुर्भृशनिस्वनाः ॥२१॥
pārśvataḥ pṛṣṭhataś cāpi lambamānās tad-unmukhāḥ |
bāṣpa-pūrṇa-mukhāḥ sarve tam ūcur bhṛśa-nisvanāḥ ||21||
लोग रथ के पास से चिपक के खड़े हो गए। सबके चेहरे आँसू से भर गए थे। सब रो रहे थे, आवाज़ भी रुक रही थि। फिर भी उन्होंने सुमंत्र से बात की।
Sandhi Notes
- पृष्ठतश्चापि → pṛṣṭhataḥ ca api
- लम्बमानास्तदुन्मुखाः → lambamānāḥ tadunmukhāḥ
- बाष्पपूर्णमुखास्सर्वे → bāṣpapūrṇamukhāḥ sarve
- तमूचुः → tam ūcuḥ
- ऊचुर्भृश- → ūcuḥ bhṛśa-
All the people hanging from the chariot from behind and by the sides, heaving deeply, their faces covered with tears, thus addressed to Sumantra:
The teaching
Even when dharma is upheld, the human cost is real; righteous action may still evoke communal grief.
Duties in tension
- Rama’s duty to uphold father’s word/exile
- Subjects’ duty to accept royal dharma vs. their love and dependence on Rama
- Ethical theme
- Rāja-dharma and sāmānya-dharma (social loyalty)
- How it resolves
- Acceptance-through-lament (emotional protest without rebellion)
For your practice
Contemplation on impermanence and non-possessiveness; offering grief into remembrance of Rama as dharma-incarnate.
Mood and themes
- Rasa
- Karuna (compassion)
- Mood
- Tear-choked, clamorous, helpless
Themes
- Dharma
- Itihasa
- Public grief
- Maryada
- Ethics
The jīva’s clinging to nāma-rūpa at the moment of separation; grief arising from identification and impending loss.
Katha Upanishad chariot allegory (ratha-kalpanā): the vehicle as locus of control and departure, here inverted into communal helplessness.
Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.40 (citizens’ lament sequence); Rāmacaritamānasa Ayodhyākāṇḍa (Ayodhyā-vilāpa, nagara-janākrandana)
Katha Upanishad 1.3.3-1.3.9 (ratha allegory, thematic resonance)
2.39-2.41 (Ayodhya follows the chariot; collective lament)
Anuṣṭup (śloka)
Grieving
Mandra-niṣāda to madhyama glide, with kampita on long vowels to convey sobbing
FAQs
It shows the dharmic bond between ruler and subjects: their grief is not mere emotion, but a response to the loss of righteous protection and moral order.
Citizens physically surround and cling to the moving chariot and then address Sumantra, pleading through tears.
Collective loyalty and devotion to a dharmic prince; also the restraint of addressing the charioteer as a practical mediator.
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