Chapter 52 — Ayodhya Kanda, Sarga 52

Valmiki Ramayana — Ayodhya Kanda

Verse 52.34

यदहं नोपचारेण ब्रूयां स्नेहादविक्लवम्। भक्तिमानिति तत् तावद् वाक्यं त्वं क्षन्तुमर्हसि ॥ कथं हि त्वविहीनोऽहं प्रतियास्यामि तां पुरीम्। तव तात वियोगेन पुत्रशोकातुरामिव ॥

yadahaṃ nopacāreṇa brūyāṃ snehādaviklavam| bhaktimāniti tat tāvad vākyaṃ tvaṃ kṣantumarhasi || kathaṃ hi tvavihīno'haṃ pratiyāsyāmi tāṃ purīm| tava tāta viyogena putraśokāturāmiva ||

English Meaning

It behoves you to forgive what I say plainly from affection, without letting myself by overwhelmed with emotion, and with due reverence for you. How can I, O child, without you return to that city, which seems as it afflicted with the grief incident to the loss of a son?

M.N. Dutt (1891–94, public domain)