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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.19.2

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: Recovering, Daśaratha protests that Rāma is not yet sixteen and unready to face rākṣasas → he offers to go himself with a full army division and protect the observance

1.19.2

ūnaṣoḍaśavarṣo me rāmo rājīvalocanaḥ
na yuddhayogyatām asya paśyāmi saha rākṣasaiḥ

My lotus-eyed Rāma is not yet sixteen years old; I do not see his fitness for battle with the rākṣasas.

Words: ūnaṣoḍaśavarṣo — less than sixteen years old; me — my; rāmo — Rāma; rājīvalocanaḥ — lotus-eyed; na — not; yuddhayogyatām — fitness for battle; asya — of him, his; paśyāmi — I see; saha — with; rākṣasaiḥ — the rākṣasas

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.