Ramayana — Ayodhya Kanda, Sarga 42, Shloka 33
द्विचत्वारिंशः सर्गः — दशरथस्य शोक-विलापः तथा कौशल्यागृह-प्रवेशः
Dasaratha’s Lament and Return to Kausalya’s Apartments
अथ रात्र्यां प्रपन्नायां कालरात्र्यामिवात्मनः।अर्धरात्रे दशरथः कौशल्यामिदमब्रवीत्।।।।
atha rātryāṃ prapannāyāṃ kālarātryām ivātmanaḥ | ardharātre daśarathaḥ kauśalyām idam abravīt ||
ನಂತರ ರಾತ್ರಿಯು ಇಳಿದಾಗ—ಅವನಿಗೆ ಅದು ಮರಣರಾತ್ರಿಯಂತೆ; ಅರ್ಧರಾತ್ರಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ದಶರಥನು ಕೌಸಲ್ಯೆಗೆ ಈ ಮಾತುಗಳನ್ನು ಹೇಳಿದನು.
The king, endowed with rectitude, virtue and also humility, stared at and said to Kaikeyi with pain.
FAQs
The verse frames suffering as a consequence within the moral universe of itihāsa: when dharma is strained (through vows, boons, and exile), the resulting pain can feel like death—yet the narrative insists on truth-bound action.
At midnight, Daśaratha—near collapse—turns to Kausalyā to speak, the night itself described as ominous and death-like for him.
Kausalyā’s role as steady companion in crisis is implied; Daśaratha’s vulnerability foregrounds the human dimension of royal dharma.