← 2.104.22 · Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa 104: Bharata receives Rāma’s sandals · 2.104.24 →
Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.104.23
Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa, sarga 104: Bharata receives Rāma’s sandals. Rāma steps into the gold-adorned sandals and returns them, Bharata circles him and prepares to depart
In the sequence: Bharata presents gold-adorned sandals and asks Rāma to place his feet in them → Rāma does so, steps out, and hands them back → Bharata walks respectfully around him and has the sandals placed on an elephant for the return → Rāma says goodbye to the gathering and his mothers, then goes back into the hut in tears.
2.104.23
sa pāduke te bharataḥ pratāpavān svalaṃkṛte saṃparigṛhya dharmavit
pradakṣiṇaṃ caiva cakāra rāghavaṃ cakāra caivottamanāgamūrdhani
That valiant, dharma-knowing Bharata, taking up those two well-adorned sandals, circumambulated Rāghava and set them upon the head of a splendid elephant.
Words: sa — he; pāduke — the two sandals; te — those; bharataḥ — Bharata; pratāpavān — valiant; svalaṃkṛte — well-adorned (dual); saṃparigṛhya — having taken up; dharmavit — knower of dharma; pradakṣiṇaṃ — circumambulation; caiva — and indeed; cakāra — made; rāghavaṃ — of Rāghava (around Rāghava); cakāra — set, placed; caivottamanāgamūrdhani — and upon the head of the best elephant
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.