Shloka 24

The Vision of Rāma’s Royal Capital

and the Meeting at Nandigrāma

Devanagari script

पुत्रः पदातिरायाति जटावल्कलवेषभृत् । न दुःखं तादृशं मेऽन्यद्वनमध्यगतस्य हि

Transliteration

putraḥ padātirāyāti jaṭāvalkalaveṣabhṛt | na duḥkhaṃ tādṛśaṃ me'nyadvanamadhyagatasya hi

Translation

ನನ್ನ ಪುತ್ರನು ಕಾಲ್ನಡಿಗೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಬರುತ್ತಾನೆ, ಜಟೆ ಮತ್ತು ವಲ್ಕಲವಸ್ತ್ರ ಧರಿಸಿ. ಅರಣ್ಯಮಧ್ಯದಲ್ಲಿರುವ ನನಗೆ ಇದಕ್ಕಿಂತ ದೊಡ್ಡ ದುಃಖವಿಲ್ಲ।

Word by Word

• putraḥ: son
• putraḥ: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: putra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Puṃliṅga, Prathamā, Ekavacana

• padātiḥ: a foot-traveller/on foot
• padātiḥ: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: padāti (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Puṃliṅga, Prathamā, Ekavacana; ‘foot-soldier/one on foot’ used predicatively

• āyāti: comes
• āyāti: Kriyā (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: ā-√yā (धातु)
• Form: Laṭ (present), Prathama-puruṣa, Ekavacana; parasmaipada

• jaṭā-valkala-veṣa-bhṛt: wearing matted hair and bark-cloth attire
• jaṭā-valkala-veṣa-bhṛt: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: jaṭā (प्रातिपदिक) + valkala (प्रातिपदिक) + veṣa (प्रातिपदिक) + bhṛt (प्रातिपदिक; from √bhṛ)
• Form: Puṃliṅga, Prathamā, Ekavacana; multi-member tatpuruṣa: ‘bearing the attire of matted hair and bark-garments’ (जटावल्कलयोः वेषं बिभ्रत्) qualifying putraḥ

• na: not
• na: Pratiṣedha (प्रतिषेध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: na (अव्यय)
• Form: Avyaya; negation

• duḥkham: sorrow
• duḥkham: Pradhāna (प्रधान/भाववाच्य predicate)
• Type: Noun
• Root: duḥkha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Napुंसकलिङ्ग, Prathamā (or Dvitīyā) Ekavacana; here as predicate nominative with implied ‘asti’

• tādṛśam: such/like that
• tādṛśam: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: tādṛśa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Napुंसकलिङ्ग, Prathamā (agreeing with duḥkham), Ekavacana

• me: of me/my
• me: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: asmad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Ṣaṣṭhī (षष्ठी/6th case), Ekavacana; enclitic genitive

• anyat: other
• anyat: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: anya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Napुंसकलिङ्ग, Prathamā, Ekavacana; ‘other’ qualifying duḥkham (na ... anyat)

• vana-madhya-gatasya: of (me) who has gone into the forest’s midst
• vana-madhya-gatasya: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: vana (प्रातिपदिक) + madhya (प्रातिपदिक) + gata (प्रातिपदिक; from √gam)
• Form: Puṃliṅga, Ṣaṣṭhī, Ekavacana; tatpuruṣa ‘gone into the middle of the forest’; genitive dependent on me (for me who am...)

• hi: indeed/for
• hi: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/particle)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: hi (अव्यय)
• Form: Avyaya; causal/emphatic particle (हेतौ/निपात)

Speaker

Unspecified (a forest-dwelling parent lamenting the child's ascetic condition)

Verse Rasa

Primary Rasa: karuna

Secondary Rasa: shanta

Geographic Context

Type: forest

Sandhi Resolution Notes

Sandhi Resolution Notes: padātirāyāti → padātiḥ + āyāti; veṣabhṛt is a bahuvrīhi-like epithet but treated here as tatpuruṣa with bhṛt as final member; me'nyadvanamadhyagatasya → me + anyat + vana-madhya-gatasya.

FAQs

What emotion is expressed in this verse?

It expresses a parent's acute grief on seeing the son return in an ascetic, hardship-bearing condition—walking on foot and wearing bark garments with matted hair.

What do “jaṭā” and “valkala” symbolize here?

They symbolize renunciation and austerity: matted hair (jaṭā) and bark-cloth (valkala) are classic markers of a life of tapas and forest asceticism.

What ethical or spiritual lesson can be drawn from this verse?

It highlights the tension between worldly familial attachment and the path of renunciation—showing how spiritual austerity can be experienced as painful by loved ones, even when it is religiously meaningful.