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||
那两位——羸弱而失明，等着我、又被口渴折磨——怎能久忍那痛苦的干渴，只凭希望支撑？
'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.