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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.17.4

Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa, sarga 17: Kausalyā learns of Rāma’s exile. Rāma tells Kausalyā that Bharata will inherit and he must leave, she collapses and laments their separation

In the sequence: Rāma and Lakṣmaṇa enter Kausalyā's apartments, where she has been praying and making offerings for his welfare

2.17.4

praṇamya rāmas tān vṛddhāṃs tṛtīyāyāṃ dadarśa saḥ
striyo vṛddhāś ca bālāś ca dvārarakṣaṇatatparāḥ

Having bowed to those elders, Rāma in the third courtyard saw women, old and young, intent on guarding the door.

Words: praṇamya — having bowed; rāmas — Rāma; tān — those; vṛddhāṃs — elders; tṛtīyāyāṃ — in the third (courtyard); dadarśa — saw; saḥ — he; striyo — women; vṛddhāś — old; ca — and; bālāś — young; ca — and; dvārarakṣaṇatatparāḥ — intent on guarding the door

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.