← 2.14.19 · Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa 14: Rāma answers the summons · 2.14.21 →

Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.14.20

Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa, sarga 14: Rāma answers the summons. Expecting his abhiṣeka and assuming Kaikeyī’s support, Rāma takes leave of Sītā and rides out with Lakṣmaṇa

In the sequence: she follows him to the door with blessings → he greets the people waiting outside and mounts his chariot

2.14.20

hariyuktaṃ sahasrākṣo ratham indra ivāśugam
prayayau tūrṇam āsthāya rāghavo jvalitaḥ śriyā

Mounting that swift, horse-yoked chariot, Rāghava, blazing with splendour, drove swiftly forth, like the thousand-eyed Indra his own.

Words: hariyuktaṃ — yoked with bay horses; sahasrākṣo — the thousand-eyed (Indra); ratham — chariot; indra — Indra; ivāśugam — like, swift; prayayau — drove forth; tūrṇam — swiftly; āsthāya — having mounted; rāghavo — Rāghava; jvalitaḥ — blazing; śriyā — with splendour

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.