Dasharatha's Last Night

After showing Ram the way toward Chitrakuta, Sumantra had been ordered to return to Ayodhya. His heart remained with the three travellers. He waited near the Ganga for a time, hoping Ram might call him back, but at last he had messages to carry to the king and the mothers. Every turn of the empty chariot's wheels seemed to repeat the separation.

Near Ayodhya, people recognized the royal chariot. They hurried forward expecting to see Ram, Sita, and Lakshman, then surrounded Sumantra with questions when they found it empty. He had no answer that could remove their sorrow. Traces of celebration had vanished from the city. Markets were quiet and the palace gates seemed filled with waiting. He entered with his face lowered, feeling that returning without Ram looked like failure even though he had obeyed Ram's direct command.

Dasharatha asked for every detail of the journey. Sumantra delivered Ram's respectful greetings to all the mothers, his request that his father not surrender to grief, and his counsel that the family honour Bharat. He described Sita's resolve and Lakshman's service. At the Ganga, all three had turned to bid him farewell before crossing. Sumantra did not hide the difficulty of the forest road, but neither did he portray them as frightened or helpless. They were working together to make a new life.

Kaushalya's grief broke into words directed sometimes at Sumantra and sometimes at Dasharatha. Later she regretted the harshness of some of them. Grief does not move in a straight line; anger, guilt, memory, and exhaustion may follow one another. Sumantra reassured her that Ram, Sita, and Lakshman were well and would sustain one another in the forest.

As the night deepened, Dasharatha told Kaushalya about an event from his youth that he had carried within him for many years. He had once taken pride in being able to aim by sound. On a rainy night beside a river, he heard what he thought was an elephant drinking and released an arrow without seeing the target. The sound had not come from an animal. A young ascetic had been filling a water jar for his elderly parents, who could not see.

Dasharatha ran to him. The young man was mortally wounded, yet his first concern was for his thirsty parents. He asked Dasharatha to carry them the water and tell them the truth. The king did so. When the parents heard an unfamiliar step instead of their son's, they asked what had happened. Dasharatha admitted his terrible mistake. He could ask forgiveness and offer help, but he could not restore their child. Overcome by grief, the father said that as they would die separated from their son, Dasharatha would one day lose his life grieving for a beloved son.

This account is not preserved merely to frighten a child. It carries a serious warning: pride in one's skill can cause innocent life to be harmed when action comes before certainty. An accident still has real consequences. Dasharatha had never escaped responsibility for that night. Now he believed the bereaved father's words were being fulfilled.

Through his final hours, Dasharatha's awareness faded and returned. He repeatedly called the names of Ram, Sita, and Lakshman. Kaushalya and Sumitra remained nearby. Before dawn, the king died. For a while the palace did not know. When attendants and court singers came to begin the morning routine, the queens' lament was heard and the news spread.

Ayodhya now faced two crises: the family's profound grief and the public responsibility of governing without a king. Bharat and Shatrughna were in their grandfather's kingdom of Kekaya, while Ram was in the forest. Vashishtha and the ministers maintained order. Following the ancient practice described in the epic, Dasharatha's body was preserved in oil until Bharat could return for the funeral rites. Messengers left at once for Kekaya, instructed not to announce the death or exile on the road, but only to say that Bharat must come to Ayodhya without delay. Sorrow could not be solved, yet the next responsible step still had to be taken.

Source

Primary story based on the Valmiki Ramayana, Ayodhya Kanda, Sargas 57–77. This adaptation retains Sumantra's report, the family's changing expressions of grief, Dasharatha's accidental killing of the ascetic youth, his truth-telling to the parents, the king's death, preservation before the funeral, and the summons to Bharat. The death is described directly but without graphic detail.