Canto 2 -
Ayodhyā-kāṇḍa
Chapter 88: Bharata Laments About Rāma’s Predicament
Text 2.88.22
अकर्णधारा पृथिवी शून्येव प्रतिभाति मा।
गते दशरथे स्वर्गं रामे चारण्यमाश्रिते॥
akarṇadhārā pṛthivī śūnyeva pratibhāti mā
gate daśarathe svargaṁ rāme cāraṇyam āśrite
akarṇadhārā = a boat without a captain; pṛthivī = the earth; śūnyā = and therefore empty; iva = to be like; pratibhāti = appears; mā = to Me; gate = has gone; daśarathe = now that King Daśaratha; svargam = to the heavens; rāme = Rāma; ca = and; araṇyam = of the forest; āśrite = has taken shelter.
“Now that King Daśaratha has gone to the heavens and Rāma has taken shelter of the forest, the earth appears to Me to be like a boat without a captain and therefore empty.
Akarṇadhārā (“a boat without a captain”) indicates that [Bharata felt that] the earth was devoid of a chief.
How is it that the kingdom is without disturbances [even] in the absence of a leader? He states that in the next verse.