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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.18.20

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: Kausalyā asks Rāma to stay and fulfill his duty to her instead; she threatens to fast to death if he leaves

2.18.20

śuśrūṣur jananīṃ putra svagṛhe niyato vasan
pareṇa tapasā yuktaḥ kāśyapas tridivaṃ gataḥ

Serving his mother, my son, dwelling self-restrained in his own home, endowed with supreme austerity, Kāśyapa went to heaven.

Words: śuśrūṣur — serving, obedient; jananīṃ — his mother; putra — O son; svagṛhe — in his own home; niyato — self-restrained; vasan — dwelling; pareṇa — supreme, highest; tapasā — with austerity; yuktaḥ — endowed, joined; kāśyapas — Kāśyapa; tridivaṃ — to heaven; gataḥ — went

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.