Valmiki Ramayana 2.41.13: Ayodhya Kanda, Sarga 41, Shloka 13
अयोध्यायाः शोकप्रकम्पः
Ayodhya’s Tremor of Grief and Omens
Setting: AyodhyāPlaces named: vana (forest)Rāma departing from city toward forest (vanam)
कालिकानिलवेगेन महोदधिरिवोत्थितः ।
रामे वनं प्रव्रजिते नगरं प्रचचाल तत् ॥१३॥
kālikānilavegena mahodadhir ivotthitaḥ |
rāme vanaṃ pravrajite nagaraṃ pracacāla tat ||13||
Gdy Rama udał się na wygnanie do lasu, to miasto zadrżało, jakby wielki ocean powstał, pędzony siłą ciemnego, burzliwego wiatru.
Sandhi Notes
- mahodadhir ivotthitaḥ = mahodadhiḥ + iva + utthitaḥ
- rāme vanaṃ pravrajite = rāme + vanam + pravrajite (locative absolute)
- tat nagaram = tat + nagaram
After Rama left for the forest, dark clouds appeared (in the sky) like the (waves of) the great ocean uplifted by the speed of the wind which shook the city.
The teaching
The righteous may choose exile over comfort to preserve truth; collective order depends on dharma more than on immediate happiness.
Duties in tension
- Rāma’s filial obedience and commitment to satya
- Rāma’s duty to protect citizens as heir-apparent
- Citizens’ desire to retain Rāma vs. acceptance of royal dharma
- Ethical theme
- Satya-dharma and tyāga in rāja-kula
- How it resolves
- Self-sacrificial adherence to dharma (tyāga)
For your practice
Meditate on Rāma as dharma-incarnate: steadiness in vows even when the world ‘shakes’; supports vrata पालन and resilience.
Mood and themes
- Rasa
- Karuna (compassion), with Bhayanaka (fear)
- Mood
- Shattering, storm-driven, unmoored
Themes
- Dharma
- Satya
- Itihasa
- Ethics
- Viraha (separation)
- Collective grief
- Rājadharma (public order)
The ‘city’ (pura) trembling when the righteous self departs echoes the body-mind ‘city of nine gates’ (pura imagery) losing steadiness when sattva-guidance withdraws.
Kaṭha/Śvetāśvatara imagery of the self as ruler; when the guiding principle is absent, the senses/world become turbulent like an ocean in storm.
- Rama and Ayodhya
- Beloved prince whose departure destabilizes the realm (sorrowful)
- Rama and Vanavāsa
- Ascetic transition; acceptance of hardship for dharma (resolute)
Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.40-2.42 (Ayodhyā’s reaction to exile); Rāmacaritamānasa Ayodhyākāṇḍa (Ayodhyā’s collective lament and cosmic sympathy)
Purāṇic trope: nature reacting to the departure of a dhārmika ruler
Ayodhyākāṇḍa: repeated similes of ocean/storm for collective grief (citizens’ lament sections)
Anuṣṭup
Grieving
Gambhīra with wave-like rise-fall to mirror ‘mahodadhiriva’; emphatic pause after प्रव्रजिते
FAQs
Dharma is shown through the social consequence of a righteous person’s removal: Rama’s adherence to duty (accepting exile) destabilizes the city emotionally, highlighting how personal dharma sustains public well-being.
Rama has left Ayodhya for forest-exile; the poet describes the city’s tremor and turmoil through a storm-and-ocean simile.
Rama’s steadfastness in dharma—he goes to exile without resisting, and his moral stature is implied by the city’s profound reaction.
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