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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.16.40

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 asks that Bharata be summoned and Daśaratha comforted → Kaikeyī presses him to leave quickly, saying the King will neither eat nor bathe until he has gone → Daśaratha collapses again, and Rāma helps him up

2.16.40

tava tv ahaṃ kṣamaṃ manye notsukasya vilambanam
rāma tasmād itaḥ śīghraṃ vanaṃ tvaṃ gantum arhasi

“But for you, eager as you are, I think delay unfitting; therefore, Rāma, you should go swiftly hence to the forest.”

Words: tava — for you; tv — but; ahaṃ — I; kṣamaṃ — fitting, proper; manye — I think; notsukasya — not for one eager; vilambanam — delay; rāma — O Rāma; tasmād — therefore; itaḥ — from here; śīghraṃ — swiftly; vanaṃ — to the forest; tvaṃ — you; gantum — to go; arhasi — you ought

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.