[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Indian literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in) › [Epic, Poetry, Drama & Narrative](https://indike.org/pramana/in.lit) › [The Rāma story (Vālmīki and later versions)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.lit.ramayana) › [The Rāmāyaṇa of Vālmīki](https://indike.org/pramana/in.lit.ramayana.valmiki) › 2.67.2 # The Rāmāyaṇa of Vālmīki 2.67.2 Vālmīkirāmāyaṇa 2.67.2 - **Language:** Sanskrit ### [2.67.2](https://indike.org/pramana/in.lit.ramayana.valmiki.2.67.2) kiṃ nuṇkāryaṃ hatasyeha mama rājyena śocataḥ vihīnasyātha pitrā ca bhrātrā pitṛsamena ca > 'Alas, what boots it now to reign, > Struck down by grief and well-nigh slain? > Ah, both are gone, my sire, and he > Who was a second sire to me. > Grief upon grief thy hand has made, > And salt upon gashes laid: > For my dear sire has died through thee, > And Ráma roams a devotee. > Thou camest like the night of Fate > This royal house to devastate. > Unwitting ill, my hapless sire > Placed in his bosom coals of fire, > And through thy crimes his death he met, > O thou whose heart on sin is set. > Shame of thy house! thy senseless deed > Has reft all joy from Raghu's seed. > The truthful monarch, dear to fame, > Received thee as his wedded dame, > And by thy act to misery doomed > Has died by flames of grief consumed. > Kaus'alyá and Sumitrá too > The coming of my mother rue. > And if they live oppressed by woe, > For their dear sons their sad tears flow. > Was he not ever good and kind,-- > That hero of the duteous mind? > Skilled in all filial duties, he > As a dear mother treated thee. > Kaus'alyá too, the eldest queen, > Who far foresees with insight keen, > Did she not ever show thee all > A sister's love at duty's call? > And hast thou from the kingdom chased > Her son, with bark around his waist, > To the wild wood, to dwell therein, > And dost not sorrow for thy sin? > The love bare to Raghu's son > Thou knewest not, ambitious one, > If thou hast wrought this impious deed > For royal sway, in lawless greed. > With him and Lakshman far away, > What power have I the realm to sway? > What hope will fire my bosom when > I see no more these lords of men? > The holy king who loved the right > Relied on Ráma's power and might, > His guardian and his glory, so > (illegible) Meru in his woods below. > How can I bear, a steer untrained, > The load his mightier strength sustained? > What power have I to brook alone > This weight on feeble shoulders thrown? > For if the needful power were bought > By strength of mind and brooding thought, > No triumph shall attend the dame > Who dooms her son to lasting shame. > Now should no doubt that son prevent > From quitting thee on evil bent. > But Ráma's love o'erpowers my will, > Who holds thee as his mother still. > Whence did the thought, O thou whose eyes > Are turned to sinful deeds, arise-- > A plan our ancient sires would hate, > O fallen from thy virtuous state? > For in the line from which we spring > The eldest is anointed king: > No monarchs from the rule decline, > And, least of all. lkshváku's line. > Our holy sires, to virtue true, > Upon our race a lustre threw, > But with subversive frenzy thou > Hast marred our lineal honour now, > Of lofty birth, a noble line > Of previous kings is also thine: > Then whence this hated folly? whence > This sudden change that steals thy sense? > Thou shalt not gain thine impious will, > O thou whose thoughts are bent on ill, > Thou from whose guilty hand descend > These sinful blows my life to end. > Now to the forest will I go, > Thy cherished plans to overthrow, > And bring my brother, free from stain, > His people's darling, home again, > And Ráma, when again he turns, > Whose glory like a beacon burns, > In me a faithful slave shall find > To serve him with contented mind.' > — Ralph T. H. Griffith 1870, The Rámáyan of Válmíki, translated into English verse - [Previous: 2.67.1](https://indike.org/pramana/in.lit.ramayana.valmiki.2.67.1) - [Next: 2.67.3](https://indike.org/pramana/in.lit.ramayana.valmiki.2.67.3) - [Up: 2.67](https://indike.org/pramana/in.lit.ramayana.valmiki.2.67) ## Translations (1) - [The Rámáyan of Válmíki, translated into English verse](https://indike.org/pramana/in.lit.ramayana.valmiki~en-griffith.2.73.p2) — Ralph T. H. Griffith 1870, English ## Other recensions (2) - [Critical edition, Ayodhyā- and Araṇyakāṇḍa (revised e-text)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.lit.ramayana.valmiki*crit-revised.2.67.2) — Sanskrit - [Southern recension](https://indike.org/pramana/in.lit.ramayana.valmiki*southern.2.67.2) — Sanskrit ## Linked texts (1) - [Āryacarita](https://indike.org/pramana/in.lit.short_stories.aryacarita.120.179-2) — Sanskrit --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/in.lit.ramayana.valmiki.2.67.2](https://indike.org/pramana/in.lit.ramayana.valmiki.2.67.2) · Pramāṇa