Ramayana — Ayodhya Kanda, Sarga 76, Shloka 20
दशरथस्य अन्त्येष्टि
विधानम् — Dasaratha’s Funeral Rites and Ayodhya’s Mourning
प्रसव्यं चापि तं चकुः ऋत्विजोऽग्निचितं नृपम्।स्त्रियश्च शोकसन्तप्ताः कौसल्याप्रमुखास्तदा।।2.76.20।।
prasavyaṃ cāpi taṃ cakruḥ ṛtvijo 'gnicitaṃ nṛpam |
striyaś ca śokasantaptāḥ kausalyāpramukhās tadā || 2.76.20 ||
Lalu para ṛtwij (pendeta upacara) dan para wanita—terbakar oleh duka, dipimpin Kausalyā—mengelilingi raja yang terbujur pada tumpukan kayu bakar yang menyala, dengan pradaksina terbalik (prasavya).
The wives of the king, counsellors and priests along with Bharata offered water-libation and entered the city with tearful eyes. They spent the ten-day mourning period sleeping on the ground (floor) in great grief.ityārṣē śrīmadrāmāyaṇē vālmīkīya ādikāvyē ayōdhyākāṇḍē ṣaṭasaptatitamassargaḥ৷৷Thus ends the seventysixth sarga in Ayodhyakanda of the holy Ramayana, the first epic composed by sage Valmiki.
FAQs
Dharma includes prescribed rites that honor life’s transitions; the reverse circumambulation marks the solemnity of death-rituals and communal respect for the departed.
At Daśaratha’s cremation, priests and the grieving queens perform the customary movement around the pyre.
Reverence and fidelity—Kausalyā and the others uphold ritual duty despite overwhelming sorrow.