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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.53.10

Bāla Kāṇḍa, sarga 53: Story of Viśvāmitra: Śabalā resists seizure. The King seizes Śabalā, she returns to Vasiṣṭha and, with his permission, produces armies to resist the royal forces

In the sequence: Vasiṣṭha assures her that she is innocent and that he has not given her up, but points to the King's overwhelming military force

1.53.10

na tvāṃ tyajāmi śabale nāpi me 'pakṛtaṃ tvayā
eṣa tvāṃ nayate rājā balān matto mahābalaḥ

'I am not abandoning you, Śabalā, nor have you done any wrong to me; this mighty king is leading you away from me by force.'

Words: na — not; tvāṃ — you; tyajāmi — I abandon; śabale — O Śabalā; nāpi — nor; me — to me; 'pakṛtaṃ — wrong done; tvayā — by you; eṣa — this; tvāṃ — you; nayate — leads away; rājā — the king; balān — by force; matto — from me; mahābalaḥ — the mighty one

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.