← 2.16.33 · Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa 16: Rāma accepts fourteen years of exile · 2.16.35 →
Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.16.34
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.
2.16.34
kiṃ punar manujendreṇa svayaṃ pitrā pracoditaḥ
tava ca priyakāmārthaṃ pratijñām anupālayan
“How much more, then, when prompted by the lord of men, my father himself, and to fulfil your dear wish, upholding his promise!”
Words: kiṃ punar — how much more; manujendreṇa — by the lord of men; svayaṃ — himself; pitrā — by my father; pracoditaḥ — prompted, urged; tava — your; ca — and; priyakāmārthaṃ — for the sake of your dear wish; pratijñām — the promise; anupālayan — upholding
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.