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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.16.25

Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa, sarga 16: Rāma accepts fourteen years of exile. Kaikeyī explains the boons, Rāma agrees, asks for Bharata’s return and leaves to speak to Kausalyā & Sītā

In the sequence: she recounts the two boons and tells him that Bharata will receive the Kingdom while he must spend fourteen years in Daṇḍaka, dressed as a tapasvin

2.16.25

sapta sapta ca varṣāṇi daṇḍakāraṇyam āśritaḥ
abhiṣekam imaṃ tyaktvā jaṭācīradharo vasa

“for seven and seven years dwelling in the Daṇḍaka forest; renouncing this consecration, live wearing matted hair and bark.

Words: sapta — seven; sapta — seven; ca — and; varṣāṇi — years; daṇḍakāraṇyam — the Daṇḍaka forest; āśritaḥ — resorting to, dwelling in; abhiṣekam — the consecration; imaṃ — this; tyaktvā — having renounced; jaṭācīradharo — wearing matted hair and bark; vasa — dwell, live

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.