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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.18.31
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: Rāma answers that he cannot disobey his father → he cites Kaṇḍu killing a cow at his father's command, Sagara's sons digging the earth and meeting destruction, and Paraśurāma striking down his mother with an axe on his father's orders → he presents their obedience as precedents for keeping his own father's word
2.18.31
tad etat tu mayā kāryaṃ kriyate bhuvi nānyathā
pitur hi vacanaṃ kurvan na kaś cin nāma hīyate
So this duty is done by me, and not otherwise, upon the earth; for by doing his father's word no one, indeed, is ever ruined.
Words: tad — therefore; etat — this; tu — but, indeed; mayā — by me; kāryaṃ — duty, to be done; kriyate — is done; bhuvi — on earth; nānyathā — not otherwise; pitur — of the father; hi — for; vacanaṃ — word; kurvan — doing; na — not; kaś — any; cin — -ever; nāma — indeed, at all; hīyate — is ruined, comes to harm
Composed by Maharṣi Vālmīki. 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.