Canto 2 -
Ayodhyā-kāṇḍa
Chapter 20: Kausalyā’s Lamentation
Text 2.20.36
यदि पुत्र न जायेथा मम शोकाय राघव।
न स्म दुःखमतो भूयः पश्येयमहमप्रजाः॥
yadi putra na jāyethā mama śokāya rāghava
na sma duḥkham ato bhūyaḥ paśyeyam aham aprajāḥ
yadi = if; putra = my son; na = not; jāyethāḥ = you had taken birth; mama śokāya = I would have been distressed; rāghava = Rāghava; na sma = never; duḥkham = a distress; ataḥ = than that; bhūyaḥ = greater; paśyeyam = would have experienced; aham = I; aprajāḥ = being a barren woman.
My son Rāghava, if You had not taken birth, I would have been distressed. As a barren woman, I would never have experienced a distress greater than that.
Kausalyā stated that if she had been childless, she would not have experienced the distress of being separated from one’s beloved son which was greater than the distress of being barren.