Canto 2 -
Ayodhyā-kāṇḍa
Chapter 52: Rāma Crosses the Gaṅgā on Guha’s Boat
Text 2.52.19
वयं खलु हता राम ये त्वयाप्युपवञ्चिताः।
कैकेय्या वशमेष्यामः पापाया दुःखभागिनः॥
vayaṁ khalu hatā rāma ye tvayāpy upavañcitāḥ
kaikeyyā vaśam eṣyāmaḥ pāpāyāḥ duḥkhabhāginaḥ
vayam = we; khalu = certainly; hatāḥ = have been destroyed; rāma = Rāma; ye = we who have followed You and who; tvayā = by You; api = too; upavañcitāḥ = have been finally deceived; kaikeyyāḥ = Kaikeyī’s; vaśam = under control; eṣyāmaḥ = will come; pāpāyāḥ = sinful; duḥkhabhāginaḥ = and suffer [much] distress.
Rāma, we, who have followed You and have been finally deceived by You too, will certainly come under sinful Kaikeyī’s control and suffer [much] distress. We have been destroyed!
1 See note to text 2.46.22 to understand why Rāma deceived them.
Sumantra here considers himself one of Ayodhyā’s residents who followed Him. Rāma deceived the residents of Ayodhyā who had followed Him by silently departing while they were asleep at night.1 Api (“too”) indicates that they were previously deceived by Kaikeyī over His coronation. The residents of Ayodhyā had been abandoned while they were apparently brought to the forest.