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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.19.4

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

1.19.4

ime śūrāś ca vikrāntā bhṛtyā me 'straviśāradāḥ
yogyā rakṣogaṇair yoddhuṃ na rāmaṃ netum arhasi

These heroic and valiant servants of mine, skilled in weapons, are fit to fight the hosts of rākṣasas; you should not take Rāma away.

Words: ime — these; śūrāś — heroic; ca — and; vikrāntā — valiant; bhṛtyā — servants; me — my; 'straviśāradāḥ — skilled in weapons; yogyā — fit, suitable; rakṣogaṇair — with the hosts of rākṣasas; yoddhuṃ — to fight; na — not; rāmaṃ — Rāma; netum — to take away; arhasi — you should

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.