Canto 2: Ayodhyā-kāṇḍa ()Chapter 64: Daśaratha Gives up his Life in Remembrance of Lord RāmaText 2.64.53
Canto 2 -
Ayodhyā-kāṇḍa
Chapter 64: Daśaratha Gives up his Life in Remembrance of Lord Rāma
Text 2.64.53
अद्यैव जहि मां राजन्मरणे नास्ति मे व्यथा।
यच्छरेणैकपुत्रं मां त्वमकार्षीरपुत्रकम्॥
adyaiva jahi māṁ rājan maraṇe nāsti me vyathā
yac-chareṇaika-putraṁ māṁ tvam akārṣīr aputrakam
adya eva = now itself; jahi = kill; mām = me; rājan = O king; maraṇe = death; na asti = is not; me = to me; vyathā = painful; yat-śareṇa = through a single arrow; eka-putram = who had [only] one son; mām = me; tvam akārṣīḥ = because you have rendered; aputrakam = [now] sonless.
O king, kill me now itself. Death is not painful to me because you have rendered me, who had [only] one son, [now] sonless through a single arrow.
But doesn’t killing produce distress? [No]. Death would not be painful to that sage [because] what could be more painful than the [death of a son for one who has only one son]?