Valmiki Ramayana 2.62.5: Ayodhya Kanda, Sarga 62, Shloka 5
अयोध्याकाण्डे द्विषष्टितमः सर्गः · Kausalyā consoles Daśaratha; grief, remorse, and nightfall
Setting: Ayodhyā palace (Daśaratha's chamber)Places named: Ayodhyā (implied)
अमनास्तेन शोकेन रामशोकेन च प्रभुः ।
द्वाभ्यामपि महाराज श्शोकाभ्यामन्वतप्यत ॥५॥
amanās tena śokena rāmaśokena ca prabhuḥ |
dvābhyām api mahārāja śokābhyām anvatapyata ||5||
Złamany na duchu przez ten smutek i przez smutek z powodu Ramy, wspaniały król był dręczony przez dwa żale naraz: wcześniejszy żal i żal zrodzony z rozłąki z Ramą.
Sandhi Notes
- अमनास्तेन → अमनाः तेन
- रामशोकेन → राम-शोकेन
- महाराज श्शोकाभ्यामन्वतप्यत → महाराज शोकाभ्याम् अन्वतप्यत (visarga/sibilant sandhi)
The great king, the lord with a broken heart started regretting deeply about both the grievous acts he had committed previously (one is shooting at the son of a sage and the other, banishing Rama).
The teaching
Grief multiplies when past wrongdoing and present attachment converge; dharma requires foresight and restraint.
Duties in tension
- Kingly duty to uphold vows/state order vs. paternal duty to protect and keep Rāma near
- Acceptance of karmic consequence vs. desire to undo the past
- Ethical theme
- Dharma vs attachment
- How it resolves
- Suffering intensifies toward collapse
For your practice
Cultivates vairāgya and compassion; prompts reflection on how attachment amplifies suffering.
Mood and themes
- Rasa
- Karuna (compassion)
- Mood
- Overwhelmed, broken, double-burdened
Themes
- Dharma
- Itihasa
- Ethics
- Karma
- Shoka
Duḥkha arises from saṃyoga-viyoga and past karma; the 'I' identified with relations is shaken, revealing the fragility of saṃsāra.
The mind afflicted by sorrow loses steadiness (cf. teachings on ātma-jñāna as the only stable refuge).
- Dasharatha and Rama
- Father-son; separation (viraha) (grief-stricken love)
Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.57-2.58 (curse narrative and its emotional aftermath); Rāmacaritamānasa, Ayodhyākāṇḍa: Daśaratha's compounded grief and impending death
Dvandva-duḥkha motif common in dharma literature
Daśaratha's lamentations throughout Ayodhyākāṇḍa after Rāma's departure
Anuṣṭubh
Grieving
Madhyama-heavy with slow vilamba, cadence on 'śokābhyām'
FAQs
Dharma teaches that actions and their consequences accumulate; unresolved wrongdoing can intensify present suffering and cloud righteous decision-making.
Daśaratha is simultaneously crushed by the memory of his past misdeed and by the present calamity of Rāma’s exile.
The verse emphasizes the seriousness of conscience: a king is not insulated from moral pain when dharma has been compromised.
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