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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.19.11

Bāla Kāṇḍa, sarga 19: Daśaratha’s resistance: The army offered in Rāma’s place. Daśaratha resists sending the young Rāma, offers himself and his army instead and renews his refusal on hearing of Rāvaṇa’s power

In the sequence: he says that sixty thousand years have passed since his birth and recalls how difficult it was to obtain this especially beloved son

1.19.11

caturṇām ātmajānāṃ hi prītiḥ paramikā mama
jyeṣṭhaṃ dharmapradhānaṃ ca na rāmaṃ netum arhasi

For of my four sons my supreme love is (for him); he is the eldest and foremost in dharma — you should not take Rāma away.

Words: caturṇām — of the four; ātmajānāṃ — of the sons; hi — for; prītiḥ — love, affection; paramikā — supreme, highest; mama — my; jyeṣṭhaṃ — the eldest; dharmapradhānaṃ — foremost in dharma; ca — and; na — not; rāmaṃ — Rāma; netum — to take away; arhasi — you should

Composed by Maharṣi Vālmīki. 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.