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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.18.36

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

2.18.36

tad enāṃ visṛjānāryāṃ kṣatradharmāśritāṃ matim
dharmam āśraya mā taikṣṇyaṃ madbuddhir anugamyatām

So give up this ignoble intent that rests on the warrior's code; take to dharma, not to harshness—let my resolve be the one you follow.

Words: tad — therefore; enāṃ — this; visṛjānāryāṃ — give up the ignoble; kṣatradharmāśritāṃ — resting on the warrior's code; matim — intent, notion; dharmam — dharma; āśraya — take to, rely on; mā — do not; taikṣṇyaṃ — harshness, fierceness; madbuddhir — my resolve, mind; anugamyatām — let it be followed

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.