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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.18.3
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
2.18.3
viparītaś ca vṛddhaś ca viṣayaiś ca pradharṣitaḥ
nṛpaḥ kim iva na brūyāc codyamānaḥ samanmathaḥ
Perverse and aged and overcome by the objects of sense, what indeed would the king not say, being urged on and full of passion?
Words: viparītaś — perverse, deranged; ca — and; vṛddhaś — aged, old; ca — and; viṣayaiś — by the objects of sense; ca — and; pradharṣitaḥ — overcome, assailed; nṛpaḥ — the king; kim — what; iva — indeed, as it were; na — not; brūyāc — would say; codyamānaḥ — being urged, incited; samanmathaḥ — full of passion, love
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.