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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.18.8

Bāla Kāṇḍa, sarga 18: Viśvāmitra’s request: Rāma’s protection of the sacrifice. Viśvāmitra asks for Rāma to protect his sacrifice from Mārīca & Subāhu, promising the prince’s safety and advancement

In the sequence: he requests Rāma, still wearing the sidelocks of boyhood, to kill them under his protection

1.18.8

svaputraṃ rājaśārdūla rāmaṃ satyaparākramam
kākapakṣadharaṃ śūraṃ jyeṣṭhaṃ me dātum arhasi

You should give me your own son, O tiger among kings — Rāma of true valour, the heroic eldest, still wearing the side-locks of boyhood.

Words: svaputraṃ — your own son; rājaśārdūla — O tiger among kings; rāmaṃ — Rāma; satyaparākramam — of true valour; kākapakṣadharaṃ — wearing the side-locks (of a boy); śūraṃ — heroic; jyeṣṭhaṃ — the eldest; me — to me; dātum — to give; arhasi — you should, ought

Composed by Maharṣi Vālmīki, the ādikavi of the ādikāvya: the first poet of the first poem. Sanskrit: The Vālmīki-Rāmāyaṇa: Critical Edition, Oriental Institute, Baroda, 1960–1975 (gen. eds. G. H. Bhatt, U. P. Shah); IAST from GRETIL (Göttingen). Translation and word glosses: Claude Opus 4.6–4.7; summaries and sequences: ChatGPT Astra (machine-made). Numbering follows the Critical Edition, not the vulgate (e.g. Gita Press, valmikiramayan.net), so sarga and verse numbers can differ from those editions.