Canto 2 -
Ayodhyā-kāṇḍa
Chapter 20: Kausalyā’s Lamentation
Text 2.20.28
गमिष्ये दण्डकारण्यं किमनेनासनेन मे।
विष्टरासनयोग्यो हि कालोऽयं मामुपस्थितः॥
gamiṣye daṇḍakāraṇyaṁ kim anenāsanena me
viṣṭarāsana-yogyo hi kālo ’yaṁ mām upasthitaḥ
gamiṣye = I will depart; daṇḍakāraṇyam = for Daṇḍakāraṇya; kim = what is the use; anena = of this jewelled; āsanena = throne; me = for Me; viṣṭara-āsana-yogyaḥ = to use a viṣṭara seat; hi = for; kālaḥ = time; ayam = the; mām = for Me; upasthitaḥ = has come.
I will depart for Daṇḍakāraṇya. What is the use of this jeweled throne for Me for the time has come for Me to use a viṣṭara seat.
A viṣṭara seat is used by ascetics. It is made out of twenty-five grass shoots. The Smṛti states—pañcāśadbhir bhaved brahmā tad-ardhena tu viṣṭaraḥ: “A brahmā seat is made up of fifty grass shoots, but a viṣṭara seat is made up of half that number of grass shoots.”