← 1.19.24 · Bāla Kāṇḍa 19: Daśaratha’s resistance: The army offered in Rāma’s place

Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.19.25

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.

1.19.25

mārīcaś ca subāhuś ca vīryavantau suśikṣitau
tayor anyatareṇāhaṃ yoddhā syāṃ sasuhṛdgaṇaḥ

Mārīca and Subāhu, mighty and well-trained — with either of those two I myself, together with my band of friends, would do battle.

Words: mārīcaś — Mārīca; ca — and; subāhuś — Subāhu; ca — and; vīryavantau — mighty (the two); suśikṣitau — well-trained (the two); tayor — of those two; anyatareṇāhaṃ — with either one, I; yoddhā — a fighter, would fight; syāṃ — I would be; sasuhṛdgaṇaḥ — together with my band of friends

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.