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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.18.7

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 urges Rāma to take power before the decision becomes public

2.18.7

tad idaṃ vacanaṃ rājñaḥ punar bālyam upeyuṣaḥ
putraḥ ko hṛdaye kuryād rājavṛttam anusmaran

What son, remembering the conduct proper to kings, would take to heart this command of a king who has fallen back into childishness?

Words: tad — that; idaṃ — this; vacanaṃ — word, command; rājñaḥ — of the king; punar — again; bālyam — childishness; upeyuṣaḥ — having reached, fallen into; putraḥ — son; ko — who; hṛdaye — in the heart; kuryād — would make, hold; rājavṛttam — the conduct of kings; anusmaran — remembering

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.