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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.100.3

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 argues that each person is born and dies alone, and that family, property, and homes are temporary associations, like lodgings on a journey

2.100.3

kaḥ kasya puruṣo bandhuḥ kim āpyaṃ kasya kena cit
yad eko jāyate jantur eka eva vinaśyati

What man is kinsman to whom? What is there to be gained by anyone from anyone? For each creature is born alone, and alone it perishes.

Words: kaḥ — what, who; kasya — of whom, to whom; puruṣo — man; bandhuḥ — kinsman, relative; kim āpyaṃ — what is to be gained; kasya — by whom; kena cit — from anyone; yad — since; eko — alone; jāyate — is born; jantur — a creature; eka eva — alone indeed; vinaśyati — perishes

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.