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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.19.22

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: Daśaratha admits he cannot face Rāvaṇa, whose power cannot be withstood by Devas, dānavas, gandharvas, yakṣas, patagas or pannagas, and again refuses to send Rāma → he nevertheless offers to fight Mārīca or Subāhu with his companions.

1.19.22

tena cāhaṃ na śakto 'smi saṃyoddhuṃ tasya vā balaiḥ
sabalo vā muniśreṣṭha sahito vā mamātmajaiḥ

And I am not able to do battle with him, or with his forces — whether with my own army, O best of sages, or together with my sons.

Words: tena — with him; cāhaṃ — and I; na — not; śakto — able; 'smi — I am; saṃyoddhuṃ — to do battle; tasya — his; vā — or; balaiḥ — with the forces; sabalo — together with (my) army; vā — or; muniśreṣṭha — O best of sages; sahito — together with; vā — or; mamātmajaiḥ — with my sons

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.