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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.12.5

Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa, sarga 12: Daśaratha summons Rāma. Kaikeyī insists on the promise, Daśaratha repudiates her & Bharata, Sumantra leaves unaware of the exile

In the sequence: she cites rulers who sacrificed their bodies or eyesight to keep their commitments and threatens to die if he refuses

2.12.5

tatha hy alarkas tejasvī brāhmaṇe vedapārage
yācamāne svake netre uddhṛtyāvimanā dadau

So too the splendid Alarka, when a brahmin who had mastered the Vedas begged of him, plucked out his own eyes and gave them, undismayed.

Words: tatha — so too, likewise; hy — indeed; alarkas — Alarka; tejasvī — splendid, full of energy; brāhmaṇe — when a brahmin; vedapārage — who had mastered the Vedas; yācamāne — was begging; svake — his own; netre — the two eyes; uddhṛtyāvimanā — having plucked out, undismayed; dadau — gave

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.