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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.103.17

Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa, sarga 103: Bharata attempts a fast. He spreads grass and refuses to leave, then offers to serve the exile himself, Rāma rejects substitution and promises to rule after fourteen years

In the sequence: Rāma asks him to abandon this attempt to compel him and return to Ayodhyā

2.103.17

brāhmaṇo hy ekapārśvena narān roddhum ihārhati
na tu mūrdhāvasiktānāṃ vidhiḥ pratyupaveśane

For a brahmin, by lying fasting on one side, may here constrain men; but for the consecrated (kshatriyas) there is no ordinance for sitting in protest.

Words: brāhmaṇo — a brahmin; hy — for; ekapārśvena — by (lying on) one side; narān — men; roddhum — to constrain; ihārhati — is entitled here; na — not; tu — but; mūrdhāvasiktānāṃ — of the consecrated (kings); vidhiḥ — ordinance, rule; pratyupaveśane — in sitting-in-protest

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.