Canto 2 -
Ayodhyā-kāṇḍa
Chapter 13: Kaikeyī Rejects Daśaratha’s Sorrowful Plea
Text 2.13.12
यदि दुःखमकृत्वाद्य मम सङ्क्रमणं भवेत्।
अदुःखार्हस्य रामस्य ततः सुखमवाप्नुयाम्॥
yadi duḥkham akṛtvādya mama saṅkramaṇaṁ bhavet
aduḥkhārhasya rāmasya tataḥ sukham avāpnuyām
yadi = if; duḥkham akṛtvā = without distressing; adya = today; mama saṅkramaṇam bhavet = I could die; aduḥkha-arhasya = who does not deserve any distress; rāmasya = Rāma; tataḥ = then; sukham = happy; avāpnuyām = I will be.
If I could die today without distressing Rāma who does not deserve any distress, then I will be happy.
Saṅkramaṇam (literally “transmigration”) refers to the transfer of the soul from one body to another like a caterpillar [that moves from one leaf to another]. In other words, it refers to death. [Daśaratha wished that his soul would be transferred to another body that day.]