Ramayana — Ayodhya Kanda, Sarga 63, Shloka 43
दशरथस्य शोकानुचिन्तनं शब्धवेधि-दोषस्मरणं च
Daśaratha’s grief, karmic reflection, and the remembered ‘śabdavedhī’ misdeed
तौ कथं दुर्बलावन्धौ मत्प्रतीक्षौ पिपासितौ।चिरमाशाकृतां तृष्णां कष्टां सन्धारयिष्यतः।।2.63.43।।
tau kathaṃ durbalāv andhau mat-pratīkṣau pipāsitau |
ciram āśākṛtāṃ tṛṣṇāṃ kaṣṭāṃ sandhārayiṣyataḥ ||2.63.43||
ਮੇਰੀ ਉਡੀਕ ਕਰਦੇ, ਪਿਆਸ ਨਾਲ ਤੜਪਦੇ ਉਹ ਦੋਵੇਂ ਕਮਜ਼ੋਰ ਅੰਨ੍ਹੇ ਬੁੱਢੇ—ਸਿਰਫ਼ ਆਸ ਦੇ ਸਹਾਰੇ ਉਹ ਦੁਖਦਾਈ ਤ੍ਰਿਸ਼ਨਾ ਕਿੰਨਾ ਚਿਰ ਸਹਾਰ ਸਕਣਗੇ?
'How will the two who are frail, thirsty and blind wait for me for long controlling their thirst with great difficulty with the expectation (that I would fetch them water)?
FAQs
Dharma includes responsibility toward dependents; neglect or the loss of a caregiver becomes a moral crisis for those left helpless.
Śravaṇa imagines his parents, waiting for water, suffering thirst as he fails to return because he has been mortally wounded.
Empathy and duty: Śravaṇa’s mind stays with his parents’ suffering rather than his own pain.