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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.19.7
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 describes Rāma as inexperienced in warfare and deception and says he cannot endure separation → if Rāma must go, he asks to accompany him with the fourfold army
1.19.7
bālo hy akṛtavidyaś ca na ca vetti balābalam
na cāstrabalasaṃyukto na ca yuddhaviśāradaḥ
na cāsau rakṣasāṃ yogyaḥ kūṭayuddhā hi te dhruvam
For he is a boy, his education incomplete; he does not know strength from weakness, is not endowed with the power of weapons, nor skilled in warfare. And he is no match for the rākṣasas, for they surely fight by trickery.
Words: bālo — a boy; hy — for; akṛtavidyaś — of unfinished learning; ca — and; na — not; ca — and; vetti — knows; balābalam — strength and weakness; na — not; cāstrabalasaṃyukto — and endowed with the power of weapons; na — not; ca — and; yuddhaviśāradaḥ — skilled in warfare; na — not; cāsau — and he; rakṣasāṃ — for the rākṣasas; yogyaḥ — a match, fit; kūṭayuddhā — fighters by trickery; hi — for; te — they; dhruvam — surely, certainly
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.