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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.16.29
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.
2.16.29
idaṃ tu jñātum icchāmi kimarthaṃ māṃ mahīpatiḥ
nābhinandati durdharṣo yathāpuram ariṃdamaḥ
“But this I wish to know: why does the lord of earth, unassailable, tamer of foes, not greet me as before?”
Words: idaṃ — this; tu — but; jñātum — to know; icchāmi — I wish; kimarthaṃ — for what reason, why; māṃ — me; mahīpatiḥ — the lord of earth; nābhinandati — does not greet; durdharṣo — unassailable; yathāpuram — as before; ariṃdamaḥ — tamer of foes
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.