Canto 2 -
Ayodhyā-kāṇḍa
Chapter 20: Kausalyā’s Lamentation
Text 2.20.32
सा निकृत्तेव सालस्य यष्टिः परशुना वने।
पपात सहसा देवी देवतेव दिवश्च्युता॥
sā nikṛtteva sālasya yaṣṭiḥ paraśunā vane
papāta sahasā devī devateva divaś cyutā
sā = upon hearing her son’s words; nikṛttā = cut; iva = like; sālasya = of the Sāla tree 2; yaṣṭiḥ = a branch; paraśunā = by an axe; vane = in the forest; papāta = fell down [on the ground]; sahasā = immediately; devī = Queen Kausalyā; devatā = a demigoddess; iva = like; divaḥ = from the heavens; cyutā = fallen.
Upon hearing her son’s words, Queen Kausalyā immediately fell down [on the ground] like a branch of the Sāla tree cut by an axe in the forest, like a demigoddess fallen from the heavens.
Sage Vālmīki states that she fell down [on the ground] like a branch of the Sāla tree cut by an axe in the forest to indicate that she fell down immediately. “In the forest” is mentioned because that activity cannot be done in the city.