← 2.18.37 · Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa 18: Resistance or obedience · 2.18.39 →
Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.18.38
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 asks his mother's permission and blessing, promising to return after completing the exile.
2.18.38
anumanyasva māṃ devi gamiṣyantam ito vanam
śāpitāsi mama prāṇaiḥ kuru svastyayanāni me
tīrṇapratijñaś ca vanāt punar eṣyāmy ahaṃ purīm
"Give me your leave, O queen, as I set out from here to the forest; I adjure you by my life—perform rites of blessing for me; and, my vow fulfilled, I shall return again from the forest to the city.
Words: anumanyasva — give leave, consent; māṃ — me; devi — O queen; gamiṣyantam — about to go; ito — from here; vanam — to the forest; śāpitāsi — you are adjured; mama — my; prāṇaiḥ — by my life-breaths; kuru — make, perform; svastyayanāni — rites of blessing, well-wishing; me — for me; tīrṇapratijñaś — having fulfilled the vow; ca — and; vanāt — from the forest; punar — again; eṣyāmy — I shall come; ahaṃ — I; purīm — to the city
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.