Valmiki Ramayana 2.53.29: Ayodhya Kanda, Sarga 53, Shloka 29
पञ्चाशत्तमः सर्गः (Sarga 53): Rāma’s Lament, Vigil for Sītā, and Lakṣmaṇa’s Consolation
Spoken by Lakshmana to RamaPlaces named: पुरी, अयोध्याContrastive recollection of homeland during exile
ध्रुवमद्य पुरी राजन्नयोध्यायुधिनां वर ।
निष्प्रभा त्वयि निष्क्रान्ते गतचन्द्रेव शर्वरी ॥२९॥
dhruvam adya purī rājan ayodhyāyudhināṃ vara |
niṣprabhā tvayi niṣkrānte gatacandreva śarvarī ||29||
राजा, तुम बहुत बड़े योधा हो। जब तुम अयोध्या से चले गए, शहर उजड़ गया। अब वहाँ कोई चमक नहीं, जैसे चाँद के बिना रात अंधेरी हो।
Sandhi Notes
- राजन्नयोध्यायुधिनां = राजन् + अयोध्या + आयुधिनाम्
- त्वयि निष्क्रान्ते (locative absolute)
- गतचन्द्रेव = गतचन्द्रा + इव
O Rama, foremost of warriors, it is certain that since your departure, the city of Ayodhya must be lustreless like night without the Moon.
The teaching
A righteous one may accept personal and civic loss to uphold truth and filial duty; dharma can demand sacrifice of prosperity.
Duties in tension
- Obedience to father’s command/exile vs responsibility to the kingdom’s welfare and splendor
- Ethical theme
- Rāja-dharma vs pitṛ-vacana-pālana (filial obedience)
- How it resolves
- Acceptance of exile despite acknowledged public loss
For your practice
Meditation on Rāma as ‘candra’ of dharma—his absence reveals dependence of worldly order on righteousness.
Mood and themes
- Rasa
- Karuna (compassion), with Adbhuta (wonder)
- Mood
- Elegiac, majestic, bereft
Themes
- Dharma
- Itihasa
- Kingship
- Devotion
- Satya
The ‘moon’ as consciousness-light; without the rightful ruler, the city appears dim—like the mind without its guiding sattva.
Chāndogya/Bṛhadāraṇyaka moon-light imagery as a metaphor for guidance and nourishment; here transposed to political-theological poetics.
Rātri (implied by śarvarī)
Amāvāsyā-like (moon absent metaphorically)
Moon absent (metaphorical)
- Rama and Ayodhya
- Rightful prince/king-to-capital; city-personified devotee (loss-laden)
- Ayodhya and Moon
- City’s splendor dependent on ruler like night on moon (poetic-lament)
Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.67–2.69 (Ayodhyā’s desolation after Rāma’s departure); Rāmacaritamānasa Ayodhyākāṇḍa (Ayodhyā’s viraha-varṇana)
Vedic/Itihāsa trope: ruler as ‘moon’ of the people (candra iva prajāsu)
Ayodhyākāṇḍa city-lament passages describing streets, palaces, and citizens in grief
Anuṣṭup (śloka)
Solemn
Madhyama with dīrgha on ‘gatacandrā’
FAQs
A righteous ruler is the ‘light’ of the kingdom; dharma in kingship is not mere power but the sustaining presence of virtue for society.
Lakṣmaṇa reassures and elevates Rāma by describing Ayodhyā’s loss of brilliance after his exile.
Recognition of rightful kingship and steadfast devotion—Lakṣmaṇa’s unwavering affirmation of Rāma’s worth.
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