Valmiki Ramayana 2.66.9: Ayodhya Kanda, Sarga 66, Shloka 9
अयोध्यायां शोकविलापः · Lamentation in Ayodhya after Daśaratha’s death
Spoken by KausalyaPlaces named: Videha, vanaAnticipation of forest-exile (vana-vāsa)
विदेहराजस्य सुता तथा सीता तपस्विनी ।
दुःखस्यानुचिता दुःखं वने पर्युद्विजिष्यति ॥९॥
videharājasya sutā tathā sītā tapasvinī |
duḥkhasyānucitā duḥkhaṁ vane paryudvijiṣyati ||9||
विदेह के राजा की बेटी सीता भी वैसे ही दुख में पड़ेगी। वो तपस्वी है, ऐसे दुख के लायक नहीं। वन में रहते हुए वो बहुत दुखी होगी और हिल जाएगी।
Sandhi Notes
- māmanāthāṃ → mām + anāthām
- nādya → na + adya
- jīvan nāśam → jīvan + nāśam
In the same way Sita, daughter of the king of Videha, who does not deserve hardships will be in deep agony.
The teaching
Dharma may demand endurance that compassion finds hard to accept; foreseeing suffering is part of responsible counsel.
Duties in tension
- Rāma’s dharma of exile-obedience vs the duty to protect Sītā from hardship
- Compassion for a delicate princess vs honoring her chosen participation in dharma
- Ethical theme
- Rāja-dharma / gṛhastha-protection vs strī-dharma (shared exile)
- How it resolves
- Tension acknowledged (no resolution in-verse)
For your practice
Contemplation on Sītā’s tapas and the cultivation of titikṣā; empathy without attachment to comfort.
Mood and themes
- Rasa
- Karuna (compassion), with Bhayanaka (fear)
- Mood
- Foreboding, tender, lamenting
Themes
- Dharma
- Compassion
- Innocence and suffering
- Itihasa
- Ethics
Duḥkha as a transient vṛtti of antaḥkaraṇa; the contrast between deha-sukha and dharma-niṣṭhā foregrounds vairāgya.
Kṣānti/titikṣā as a mark of inner steadiness (echoing the Upaniṣadic valorization of self-mastery over external comfort).
- Sita and Janaka
- Daughter-father (tenderness)
- Sita and Forest
- Delicate ascetic in harsh exile-environment (apprehension)
Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.27–2.30 (Sītā’s insistence on accompanying Rāma to the forest); Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.33 (Sītā’s forest-readiness contrasted with courtly delicacy)
Dharmaśāstra/Arthaśāstra motif: the hardship of exile as a test of dharma
Ayodhyākāṇḍa context: Daśaratha’s death and the impending departure intensify concern for Sītā
Anuṣṭup (śloka)
Grieving
Mandra-gāndhāra-prāya, vilambita
FAQs
Dharma includes compassion for those who suffer undeservedly; the verse spotlights the moral tragedy of innocent persons bearing the weight of others’ adharma.
Kauśalyā imagines Sītā’s distress as she accompanies Rāma into forest exile.
Sītā’s tapas (austere strength) is acknowledged, while the verse stresses her gentleness and the injustice of her suffering.
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