Valmiki Ramayana 2.57.6: Ayodhya Kanda, Sarga 57, Shloka 6
सप्तपञ्चाशः सर्गः · Sumantra’s Return to Ayodhya and the Palace’s Lament
Setting: AyodhyāPlaces named: पुरी (Ayodhyā implied)Immediate perception upon arrival
स शून्यामिव निश्शब्दां दृष्ट्वा परमदुर्मनाः ।
सुमन्त्रश्चिन्तयामास शोकवेगसमाहतः ॥६॥
sa śūnyām iva niḥśabdāṁ dṛṣṭvā paramadurmanāḥ |
sumantraś cintayāmāsa śoka-vega-samāhataḥ ||6||
शहर खाली सा लग रहा था और बिल्कुल चुप था। सुमंत्र का दिल बहुत दुखी हो गया। ग़म इतना ज़्यादा था कि वो सोचने लगा।
Sandhi Notes
- सुमन्त्रश्चिन्तयामास = सुमन्त्रः + चिन्तयामास (विसर्ग-सन्धिः: ः + च → श्च)
Beholding the silent city, almost empty, the deeply depressed Sumantra, afflicted with gushing tears reflected:
The teaching
Grief can seize the mind like a flood; recognizing it is the first step before speaking or acting rightly.
Duties in tension
- To deliver the chariot/return promptly
- To process grief and respond to the city’s crisis
- Ethical theme
- Manodharma / emotional governance in duty
- How it resolves
- Internal deliberation preceding action
For your practice
Supports bhakti through shared sorrow (sahānubhūti) and mindful observation of mental waves; useful for vairāgya reflection.
Mood and themes
- Rasa
- Karuna (compassion), with Shanta (peace)
- Mood
- Silent, hollow, grief-struck
Themes
- Itihasa
- Ethics
- Dharma
- Satya
The mind’s modification (vṛtti) colors the world: the same city appears ‘empty’ when consciousness is seized by śoka—illustrating adhyāsa-like superimposition.
Kaṭha-like theme: inner state governs experience; the city-as-body metaphor—when prāṇa/joy departs, it seems śūnya.
- Sumantra and Ayodhya
- Returning royal servant perceiving civic desolation (sorrowful alarm)
- Sumantra and Rama
- Devoted attendant to the prince; grief by association (pained loyalty)
- Sumantra and Dasharatha
- Servant anticipating the king’s grief and consequences (anxious responsibility)
Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.57.4 (nirānandā Ayodhyā); Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.59-2.60 (Ayodhya’s lamentations and the king’s collapse, thematic continuation)
Purāṇic and kāvya topos: ‘śūnya-nagara’ when the beloved/king is absent
Ayodhyākāṇḍa: citizen grief scenes; ‘Rāma-rahitā Ayodhyā’ motif
Anuṣṭup (Śloka)
Grieving
Lower register emphasis on ‘शून्यामिव’ and ‘निश्शब्दां’ with a pause before ‘चिन्तयामास’
FAQs
Dharma includes emotional integrity: grief is not denied or suppressed, yet one must still think clearly and act responsibly within sorrow.
Sumantra enters a strangely quiet Ayodhyā and realizes the depth of public mourning after Rāma’s departure.
Conscientiousness and empathy: Sumantra is sensitive to the city’s suffering and reflects on what it means.
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