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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.53.14

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: Śabalā insists that spiritual power is greater than royal force and asks permission to fight through his power

1.53.14

na balaṃ kṣatriyasyāhur brāhmaṇo balavattaraḥ
brahman brahmabalaṃ divyaṃ kṣatrāt tu balavattaram

'They say the strength of a kṣatriya is no (true) strength; the brahmin is the stronger. O brahmin, the power of brahman is divine, and mightier than that of the kṣatra.'

Words: na — not; balaṃ — strength; kṣatriyasyāhur — of a kṣatriya, they say; brāhmaṇo — the brahmin; balavattaraḥ — the stronger; brahman — O brahmin; brahmabalaṃ — the power of brahman; divyaṃ — divine; kṣatrāt — than the kṣatra (warrior power); tu — but; balavattaram — mightier

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.