736. Dasaratha says, “His hair that was decorated
with fragrant flowers is matted into jata now.
He would wear lovely, soft garments on his waist
but now he wears orange clothes like a renunciant
and he does not wear any ornaments.
Is it right that my son with such handsome arms
should go to the forest instead of me?
O, Sumanthra, O sage Vashista,
you are learned men of the Vedās. Tell me!”
Word by Word (WBW) meaning
(The words may be rearranged to facilitate conversion from poetry to prose (Aṉvayam). Please read the meanings (in black) continuously to form the sentence and understand the simplified meaning based on the Divyārtha Dīpikai for the verse.)
In this deeply moving pāśuram, the heartbroken Emperor Daśaratha summons his most trusted counselors, his minister Sumanthra and his preceptor Vasiṣṭha. Overwhelmed with grief and a sense of profound injustice, he questions them with a voice full of sorrow. He poignantly asks whether it is in any way righteous for his beloved son, Śrī