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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.19.14

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

1.19.14

sarvaṃ me śaṃsa bhagavan kathaṃ teṣāṃ mayā raṇe
sthātavyaṃ duṣṭabhāvānāṃ vīryotsiktā hi rākṣasāḥ

Tell me everything, O venerable one — how I must stand against those evil-natured ones in battle; for the rākṣasas are puffed up with might.

Words: sarvaṃ — everything; me — to me; śaṃsa — tell, relate; bhagavan — O venerable one; kathaṃ — how; teṣāṃ — against those; mayā — by me; raṇe — in battle; sthātavyaṃ — to be stood, withstood; duṣṭabhāvānāṃ — of the evil-natured; vīryotsiktā — puffed up with might; hi — for; rākṣasāḥ — the rākṣasas

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.