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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.11.6
Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa, sarga 11: Daśaratha’s pleas fail to move Kaikeyī. Kaikeyī insists that Daśaratha honour his promise, his night-long appeals fail to change her demands
In the sequence: he protests that Rāma's departure will kill him and sees disgrace whichever way he turns
2.11.6
yadi satyaṃ bravīmy etat tad asatyaṃ bhaviṣyati
akīrtir atulā loke dhruvaṃ paribhavaś ca me
If I do speak this as truth, it will (yet) turn to falsehood; and surely there will be for me measureless infamy in the world, and disgrace.
Words: yadi — if; satyaṃ — as truth; bravīmy — I speak; etat — this; tad — then; asatyaṃ — untrue, falsehood; bhaviṣyati — will become; akīrtir — infamy; atulā — measureless, unequalled; loke — in the world; dhruvaṃ — surely; paribhavaś — disgrace; ca — and; me — for me
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.