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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.100.15
Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa, sarga 100: Jābāli challenges the exile. He questions permanent family ties, offerings to the dead and belief in the unseen, urging Rāma to accept the available Kingdom
In the sequence: he claims that religious prescriptions encourage gifts to those who teach them → he asks Rāma to trust what can be observed, set aside claims about the unseen, and accept Bharata's offer.
2.100.15
dānasaṃvananā hy ete granthā medhāvibhiḥ kṛtāḥ
yajasva dehi dīkṣasva tapas tapyasva saṃtyaja
These scriptures — 'sacrifice, give, be consecrated, practise austerity, renounce' — were composed by clever men merely to coax gifts out of people.
Words: dānasaṃvananā — meant to charm out gifts; hy — indeed; ete granthā — these texts; medhāvibhiḥ — by clever men; kṛtāḥ — made, composed; yajasva — sacrifice!; dehi — give!; dīkṣasva — be consecrated!; tapas tapyasva — practise austerity!; saṃtyaja — renounce!
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.