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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.19.13

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 asks who the enemies are, how strong they are, and who supports them

1.19.13

kathaṃ ca pratikartavyaṃ teṣāṃ rāmeṇa rakṣasām
māmakair vā balair brahman mayā vā kūṭayodhinām

And how are those rākṣasas, who fight by trickery, to be countered — by Rāma, or by my forces, O brahmin, or by me myself?

Words: kathaṃ — how; ca — and; pratikartavyaṃ — to be countered, retaliated against; teṣāṃ — of those; rāmeṇa — by Rāma; rakṣasām — of the rākṣasas; māmakair — by my (forces); vā — or; balair — by forces; brahman — O brahmin; mayā — by me; vā — or; kūṭayodhinām — of those who fight by trickery

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.