Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa 18: Resistance or obedience · 2.18.2 →

Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.18.1

Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa, sarga 18: Resistance or obedience. Lakṣmaṇa offers force and Kausalyā asks Rāma to stay, Rāma cites ancestral precedents and upholds his father’s word

In the sequence: Lakṣmaṇa tells Kausalyā that Rāma has done nothing wrong and that an aging King led by his wife's wishes should not be obeyed in this matter

2.18.1

tathā tu vilapantīṃ tāṃ kausalyāṃ rāmamātaram
uvāca lakṣmaṇo dīnas tat kālasadṛśaṃ vacaḥ

As Kausalyā, Rāma's mother, was lamenting thus, the dejected Lakṣmaṇa spoke to her these words befitting the moment.

Words: tathā — thus; tu — and, but; vilapantīṃ — lamenting; tāṃ — her; kausalyāṃ — Kausalyā; rāmamātaram — Rāma's mother; uvāca — spoke; lakṣmaṇo — Lakṣmaṇa; dīnas — dejected, miserable; tat — that; kālasadṛśaṃ — befitting the moment; vacaḥ — words, speech

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.