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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.18.12

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: he promises to defeat any opposition, including Bharata's supporters, and says that wherever Rāma goes, he will go first

2.18.12

tvayā caiva mayā caiva kṛtvā vairam anuttamam
kasya śaktiḥ śriyaṃ dātuṃ bharatāyāriśāsana

Once you and I have set up a matchless enmity, who has the power to give the sovereignty to Bharata, O chastiser of foes?

Words: tvayā — by you; caiva — and; mayā — by me; caiva — and; kṛtvā — having made; vairam — enmity; anuttamam — unsurpassed, matchless; kasya — of whom, whose; śaktiḥ — power; śriyaṃ — the sovereignty, fortune; dātuṃ — to give; bharatāyāriśāsana — to Bharata, O chastiser 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.