Valmiki Ramayana 2.48.3: Ayodhya Kanda, Sarga 48, Shloka 3
अयोध्यायाः शोकवर्णनम्
Ayodhya’s Lament and Civic Desolation
स्वं स्वं निलयमागम्य पुत्रदारैस्समावृता ।
अश्रूणि मुमुचुस्सर्वे बाष्पेण पिहिताननाः ॥३॥
svaṃ svaṃ nilayam āgamya putradāraiḥ samāvṛtāḥ |
aśrūṇi mumucuḥ sarve bāṣpeṇa pihitānanāḥ ||3||
सब लोग अपने-अपने घर वापस गए। घर जाके उनके बच्चे और बीवियाँ उनके पास आ गई। पर सब के सब रो पड़े। आँसू आ रहे थे, चेहरा छुपा लिया था। इतना दुख था कि रुके नहीं जा रहा था।
The subjects reached their respective homes and surrounded by their sons and wives broke down their faces flooded with tears.
FAQs
The verse highlights communal empathy and moral solidarity: society responds to adharma (a wrongful exile) with shared sorrow, showing that public conscience is sensitive to injustice.
After the shock of Rāma’s exile, the citizens disperse to their homes; grief overwhelms them in private family spaces.
Not a single hero’s virtue, but the citizens’ collective compassion and loyalty—an ethical sensitivity toward righteousness and rightful kingship.
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