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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.101.23

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 rejects Jābāli's proposal as a justification for wrongdoing rather than a release from duty

2.101.23

śreṣṭhaṃ hy anāryam eva syād yad bhavān avadhārya mām
āha yuktikarair vākyair idaṃ bhadraṃ kuruṣva ha

For that counsel which you, having taken my measure, pressed upon me with seemingly cogent words — 'do this, it is for your good!' — however excellent it may look, would in truth be ignoble.

Words: śreṣṭhaṃ hy — though (seeming) best; anāryam eva syād — would be simply ignoble; yad bhavān — in that you; avadhārya mām — having taken my measure; āha — spoke; yuktikarair vākyair — with plausible words; idaṃ bhadraṃ — this good thing; kuruṣva ha — 'do!'

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.