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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.101.20

Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa, sarga 101: Rāma rejects Jābāli’s advice. A ruler’s actions guide his subjects, truth sustains trust and no worldly gain justifies breaking his father’s promise

In the sequence: he will not break the commitment to his father for gain or convenience

2.101.20

kṣātraṃ dharmam ahaṃ tyakṣye hy adharmaṃ dharmasaṃhitam
kṣudraur nṛśaṃsair lubdhaiś ca sevitaṃ pāpakarmabhiḥ

For (to obey you) I should be casting off the kṣatriya's dharma and taking on an unrighteousness cloaked as righteousness — a thing pursued by the base, the cruel, the greedy, and the doers of evil deeds.

Words: kṣātraṃ dharmam — the kṣatriya code; ahaṃ tyakṣye — I would cast off; hy — indeed; adharmaṃ — an unrighteousness; dharmasaṃhitam — cloaked as righteousness; kṣudraur — by the base; nṛśaṃsair — by the cruel; lubdhaiś ca — and by the greedy; sevitaṃ — practised, resorted to; pāpakarmabhiḥ — by doers of evil deeds

Composed by Maharṣi Vālmīki. 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.