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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.18.24

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

2.18.24

tatas tvaṃ prāpsyase putra nirayaṃ lokaviśrutam
brahmahatyām ivādharmāt samudraḥ saritāṃ patiḥ

Then you, my son, will attain a world-famed hell through that unrighteousness, as the ocean, lord of rivers, incurred the guilt of brahmin-slaying.

Words: tatas — then; tvaṃ — you; prāpsyase — will attain; putra — O son; nirayaṃ — hell; lokaviśrutam — world-famed; brahmahatyām — the guilt of slaying a brahmin; ivādharmāt — as through unrighteousness; samudraḥ — the ocean; saritāṃ — of rivers; patiḥ — lord

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.