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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.18.35

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 tells Lakṣmaṇa that affection and military force cannot cancel a binding promise

2.18.35

so 'haṃ na śakṣyāmi pitur niyogam ativartitum
pitur hi vacanād vīra kaikeyyāhaṃ pracoditaḥ

So I shall not be able to overstep my father's injunction; for by my father's word, O hero, I have been urged on by Kaikeyī.

Words: so — he, that one; 'haṃ — I; na — not; śakṣyāmi — I shall be able; pitur — of the father; niyogam — injunction, command; ativartitum — to overstep, transgress; pitur — of the father; hi — for; vacanād — by the word; vīra — O hero; kaikeyyāhaṃ — by Kaikeyī, I; pracoditaḥ — urged on, impelled

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.