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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.16.27

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: Rāma accepts immediately → he says that what hurts him is his father's inability to tell him directly: he would willingly give Bharata the Kingdom and everything else.

2.16.27

tad apriyam amitraghno vacanaṃ maraṇopamam
śrutvā na vivyathe rāmaḥ kaikeyīṃ cedam abravīt

Hearing that unwelcome speech, like unto death, Rāma the slayer of foes was not shaken, and said this to Kaikeyī:

Words: tad — that; apriyam — unwelcome, unpleasant; amitraghno — slayer of foes; vacanaṃ — speech; maraṇopamam — like unto death; śrutvā — having heard; na — not; vivyathe — was shaken, was agitated; rāmaḥ — Rāma; kaikeyīṃ — to Kaikeyī; cedam — and this; abravīt — said

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.