Sumitra

Sumitra, the second of King Dasharatha’s three consorts, is identified as the mother of Lakshmaṇ and as a figure whose loyalty to family is expressed through duty. Her most pointed contribution comes as Lakshmaṇ prepares to accompany Ráma into the forest: she directs her son to devote himself to Ráma’s care. Later, the poem shows her sharing the queens’ grief during the separation and receiving the returning princes with the royal household. Her part is brief, but it gives maternal love a practical form: not merely mourning a son’s departure, but instructing him how to serve while away.

Identity and Place in the Royal Family

The poem places Sumitra among the three royal consorts and names her as the second in rank. A note in the book identifies her as the mother of Lakshmaṇ, while a passage describing her sorrow says that she bore two princely sons. The evidence thus presents her as a mother within the royal succession, though it does not develop the identities or actions of both sons equally in the scenes concerning her.

Her place in the household is marked most clearly through her relationship with Lakshmaṇ and her proximity to Kauśalyá. When the royal decision affecting Ráma becomes known, Sumitra appears alongside Lakshmaṇ, in a passage that also invokes the hope that Ráma will be protected. The scene places her within the family’s response to a public crisis: she is not a ruler making the decision, but a queen whose son will act within its consequences.

A Mother’s Counsel Before Exile

When Lakshmaṇ bows and clasps his mother’s feet, Sumitra answers him with an instruction rather than an appeal to remain with her. She tells him, “Neglect not Ráma wandering there, / But tend him with thy faithful care.” The imperative defines the relationship she is blessing: Lakshmaṇ is to accompany Ráma not as a companion seeking adventure, but as someone entrusted with his brother’s welfare.

That counsel makes Sumitra’s maternal role consequential beyond the household. Lakshmaṇ’s service to Ráma during exile is central to the brothers’ shared life in the forest; Sumitra’s words frame that service as an obligation he should consciously uphold. Her attachment to her son is therefore expressed through the very act of sending him into another relationship of care. Rather than claiming his loyalty for herself, she directs it toward Ráma.

The surrounding exchange also sets her counsel against the practical cost of Lakshmaṇ’s departure. The question of who will care for Kauśalyá and Sumitra arises as the brothers prepare to leave. The passage makes visible the competing claims within the family: the mothers’ need for support at home, and Lakshmaṇ’s decision to go with Ráma. Sumitra’s instruction gives priority to his service in the forest, even as the poem recognizes the care that will be absent from the royal household.

Grief and Reunion

Sumitra’s commitment to duty does not make her untouched by loss. In a later passage, she is described as pained by sorrow, with her grief compared to a withering branch. The image places her within the poem’s wider language of bereavement: separation from the princes affects the royal women physically and emotionally, not only as a matter of political circumstance.

When news of Daśaratha’s death reaches the family, Kauśalyá and Sumitra are shown worn by weeping for their sons and lying in deep sleep. The paired portrayal presents their distress together, but does not erase Sumitra’s individual place in it. The grief is bound up with the sons’ absence, while the king’s death deepens the household’s sense of loss. Sumitra’s earlier instruction to Lakshmaṇ thus stands beside, rather than cancels, the sorrow that his departure brings.

At the later reunion, Lakshmaṇ approaches the royal ladies with reverence after they have brushed the dust from his shoulders. The passage identifies him as Daśaratha’s son and says that he receives respectful attention from each queen. Sumitra is not singled out for a separate speech in this moment; instead, her place in the reunion is part of the collective welcome given by the royal women. The gesture of brushing away the dust makes the return tangible, while Lakshmaṇ’s respectful approach answers the family bond with filial deference.

Narrative Role and Significance

Sumitra’s scenes are concentrated around relations of obligation: a son’s service to his brother, a mother’s concern for the household, and the queens’ shared grief and welcome. The poem does not give her an extended independent plot. Instead, it makes a brief maternal instruction carry forward into the larger exile narrative, where Lakshmaṇ’s fidelity to Ráma becomes a sustained feature of their life together.

Her counsel also distinguishes devotion from possession. Sumitra’s response to her son’s departure is not to deny the cost or to make his presence at home the highest duty; she directs him toward faithful care of Ráma. Yet the poem later restores the human cost of that decision through her sorrow and the mothers’ exhaustion in separation. Sumitra’s role therefore holds two truths in view: the family’s duties may require parting, and the parting remains painful to those who must endure it.