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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.19.13

Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa, sarga 19: Rāma attributes the reversal to fate. He cancels the abhiṣeka preparations and asks Lakṣmaṇa to accept Kaikeyī’s change without anger

In the sequence: he says Kaikeyī had never previously distinguished between him and Bharata, so her sudden change seems to him the work of fate

2.19.13

kṛtāntas tv eva saumitre draṣṭavyo matpravāsane
rājyasya ca vitīrṇasya punar eva nivartane

It is fate alone, Saumitri, that must be seen in my banishment and in the taking back of a kingdom that had already been granted.

Words: kṛtāntas — fate, destiny; tv — but, indeed; eva — only, alone; saumitre — O Saumitri; draṣṭavyo — to be seen; matpravāsane — in my banishment; rājyasya — of the kingdom; ca — and; vitīrṇasya — granted, bestowed; punar — again, back; eva — indeed; nivartane — in the withdrawal, taking back

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.