Canto 2 -
Ayodhyā-kāṇḍa
Chapter 20: Kausalyā’s Lamentation
Text 2.20.55

भृशमसुखममर्षिता तदा बहु विललाप समीक्ष्य राघवम्।
व्यसनमुपनिशाम्य सा महत्सुतमिव बद्धमवेक्ष्य किन्नरी॥

bhṛśam asukham amarṣitā tadā
bahu vilalāpa samīkṣya rāghavam
vyasanam upaniśāmya sā mahat
sutam iva baddham avekṣya kinnarī

bhṛśam = extreme; asukham = her distress; amarṣitā = unable to tolerate; tadā = then; bahu = greatly; vilalāpa = lamented; samīkṣya = looking; rāghavam = at Rāghava; vyasanam = calamity of being separated from Rāma; upaniśāmya = and pondering over; = she; mahat = the great; sutam = her son; iva = like; baddham = being arrested; avekṣya = who sees; kinnarī = a kinnara lady.

Looking at Rāghava and pondering over the great calamity of being separated from Rāma, she then lamented greatly, unable to tolerate her extreme distress, like a kinnara lady who sees her son being arrested.

“Even otherwise” means “even in the absence of my untimely death.” Kausalyā compares herself to a very weak cow, that is, a weak-minded cow,