Valmiki Ramayana 2.47.12: Ayodhya Kanda, Sarga 47, Shloka 12
अयोध्यायाः पौरविलापः
Lament of the Citizens of Ayodhya on Rama’s Absence
Setting: RoadPursuit of Rāma’s departing chariot; lament on the route
इतीव बहुधा वाचो बाहुमुद्यम्य ते जनाः ।
विलपन्ति स्म दुःखार्ता विवत्सा इव धेनवः ॥१२॥
itīva bahudhā vāco bāhum udyamya te janāḥ |
vilapanti sma duḥkhārtā vivatsā iva dhenavaḥ ||12||
लोग बहुत तरह से रो रहे थे। हाथ ऊपर करके चिल्लाते थे। दिल दुखा हुआ था सबका। जैसे गाये अपना बच्छा खो के रोती है, वैसे ही रो रहे थे।
Sandhi Notes
- इतीव = इति + इव
- बाहुमुद्यम्य = बाहुम् + उद्यम्य
All of them with grief distressed, and with their arms thrown up lamented like cows deprived of their calves.
The teaching
When dharma-driven separation occurs, communal grief is natural; yet action is bounded by circumstance and order.
Duties in tension
- Subjects’ loyalty and desire to follow/protect Rāma
- Obedience to royal order and practical inability to proceed
- Ethical theme
- Rāja-dharma vs prajā-bhakti (civic devotion)
- How it resolves
- Emotional surrender to circumstance (temporary); lament becomes the outlet
For your practice
Contemplation on viraha as a purifier of attachment; channeling grief into remembrance rather than agitation.
Mood and themes
- Rasa
- Karuna (compassion), with Bhayanaka (fear)
- Mood
- Wailing, helpless, yearning
Themes
- Itihasa
- Ethics
- Grief
- Collective lamentation
Viraha as avidyā-born duḥkha; the mind clings to the beloved object and suffers when it is withdrawn.
Bṛhadāraṇyaka-style insight that sorrow arises from attachment (priya-viyoga) rather than from the Self.
Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.47 (citizens’ pursuit and lament sequence); Rāmacaritamānasa Ayodhyākāṇḍa (Ayodhyā’s collective lament at Rāma’s departure)
Vedic/Smṛti lament-gestures (bāhu-udyama as śoka-cihna)
Ayodhyākāṇḍa: earlier descriptions of citizens following Rāma’s chariot and weeping (contextual continuity)
Anuṣṭup
Grieving
Mandra-gāndhāra-prāya, vilambita
FAQs
The verse highlights righteous attachment: the people’s grief is not mere sentiment but a response to the loss of a dhārmic protector, revealing the ethical bond between society and virtue.
The citizens express intense grief through cries and gestures after failing to remain with Rama.
The people’s devotion and sincerity—an uncalculated love for righteousness embodied in Rama.
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