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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.24.15

Bāla Kāṇḍa, sarga 24: Story of Tāṭakā: Birth, marriage and Agastya’s curse. Brahmā grants Suketu a powerful daughter, Tāṭakā marries Sunda and bears Mārīca, their attack on Agastya brings his transforming curses

In the sequence: Viśvāmitra tells Rāma that protecting the population requires killing her despite her being a woman

1.24.15

na hi te strīvadhakṛte ghṛṇā kāryā narottama
cāturvarṇyahitārthāya kartavyaṃ rājasūnunā

You should feel no pity on account of the killing of a woman, O best of men; for the good of the four castes it must be done by a prince.

Words: na — not; hi — for; te — by you; strīvadhakṛte — on account of the killing of a woman; ghṛṇā — pity, compassion; kāryā — to be felt, to be done; narottama — O best of men; cāturvarṇyahitārthāya — for the good of the four castes; kartavyaṃ — to be done; rājasūnunā — by a prince (king's son)

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.