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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.103.6

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: he also invokes the requests of Kausalyā, Bharata, and the assembled people

2.103.6

vṛddhāyā dharmaśīlāyā mātur nārhasy avartitum
asyās tu vacanaṃ kurvan nātivarteḥ satāṃ gatim

You ought not to turn away from your aged, righteous-natured mother; by doing her word you would not stray from the path of the good.

Words: vṛddhāyā — of the aged; dharmaśīlāyā — of righteous nature; mātur — of the mother; nārhasy — you ought not; avartitum — to turn away, to disregard; asyās — her; tu — and; vacanaṃ — word; kurvan — doing; nātivarteḥ — you would not transgress; satāṃ — of the good; gatim — the path

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.