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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.18.9

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

1.18.9

śakto hy eṣa mayā gupto divyena svena tejasā
rākṣasā ye vikartāras teṣām api vināśane

For, guarded by me and by his own divine splendour, he is capable even of the destruction of those rākṣasas who work mischief.

Words: śakto — capable; hy — for; eṣa — this one; mayā — by me; gupto — guarded, protected; divyena — by divine; svena — own; tejasā — by splendour; rākṣasā — the rākṣasas; ye — who; vikartāras — doers of mischief, marauders; teṣām — of them; api — even; vināśane — in the destruction

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.