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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.12.6

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

2.12.6

saritāṃ tu patiḥ svalpāṃ maryādāṃ satyam anvitaḥ
satyānurodhāt samaye velāṃ khāṃ nātivartate

And the ocean, lord of the rivers, endowed with truth, out of regard for truth does not at the appointed time overpass its slender bound, the shore-line.

Words: saritāṃ — of the rivers; tu — but, indeed; patiḥ — the lord (ocean); svalpāṃ — very slight, small; maryādāṃ — boundary, limit; satyam — truth; anvitaḥ — endowed with; satyānurodhāt — out of regard for truth; samaye — at the appointed time; velāṃ — the shore-line, tide-limit; khāṃ — its (appointed) bound; nātivartate — does not overstep

Composed by Maharṣi Vālmīki. 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.