Valmiki Ramayana 2.50.6: Ayodhya Kanda, Sarga 50, Shloka 6
गङ्गादर्शनम् तथा गुहसमागमः
Vision of the Gaṅgā and Meeting with Guha
Setting: Gaṅgā-tīra gathering place near Guha’s regionFarewell moment; companions dispersing before departure
तेऽभिवाद्य महात्मानं कृत्वा चापि प्रदक्षिणम् ।
विलपन्तो नरा घोरं व्यतिष्ठन्त क्वचित् क्वचित् ॥६॥
te ’bhivādya mahātmānaṃ kṛtvā cāpi pradakṣiṇam |
vilapanto narā ghoraṃ vyatiṣṭhanta kvacit kvacit ||6||
सब लोगों ने राम को प्रणाम किया। उसके चारों तरफ चक्कर लगाया। फिर लोग बहुत रोए। कुछ इधर खड़े हो गए, कुछ उधर।
Sandhi Notes
- तेऽभिवाद्य = ते + अभिवाद्य
- चापि = च + अपि
All of them paid their homage by circumambulating the high-souled Rama. Cryingbitterly, they stood here and there.
The teaching
Reverence can coexist with grief; yet one must eventually stand up and proceed according to instruction and duty.
Duties in tension
- Devotional attachment and desire to remain near Rāma vs obedience to his instruction/returning to one’s roles
- Public grief expression vs maintaining composure for action
- Ethical theme
- Bhakti-with-restraint / obedience to rightful command
- How it resolves
- Ritualized farewell (salutation/pradakṣiṇā) followed by dispersal
Devotion and practice
Encourages embodied devotion—namaskāra and pradakṣiṇā—especially when the heart is heavy; channels grief into reverent action.
- Deity praised
- Rāma (as revered mahātmā)
- Form of praise
- Vandana (salutation)
Mood and themes
- Rasa
- Karuna (compassion), with Shanta (peace)
- Mood
- Bitter lament, reverent farewell, scattered stillness
Themes
- Dharma
- Reverence
- Devotion
- Itihasa
- Ethics
Outer circumambulation mirrors inner turning around the ‘center’ (the dhārmika ideal); grief acknowledged yet contained within ritual order.
Ritual gesture (pradakṣiṇā) as a bridge from karma (action) toward inner reverence—conceptual echo.
Rāmacaritamānasa: scenes of Ayodhyā’s people lamenting and offering reverence during separation (broad parallel); Mahābhārata: farewell/circumambulation gestures to elders/kings before departure (general parallel)
Vedic/Smārta practice of pradakṣiṇā as honor to the worthy
Ayodhyākāṇḍa: repeated public lamentation and reverence around Rāma during exile departure
Anuṣṭup
Grieving
Lower register, slow tempo; slight rise on ‘pradakṣiṇam’ then fall into ‘vilapantaḥ’
FAQs
Dharma is expressed as reverence to the righteous: honoring Rama through salutation and pradakṣiṇā, even amid sorrow.
Those present pay respects to Rama and, overwhelmed with grief, remain standing around, lamenting.
Bhakti (devotional reverence) and loyalty to virtue.
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