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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.19.15

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

2.19.15

jānāsi hi yathā saumya na mātṛṣu mamāntaram
bhūtapūrvaṃ viśeṣo vā tasyā mayi sute 'pi vā

For you know, gentle one, that there has never before been any difference in my regard among my mothers, nor on her part any distinction between me and her own son.

Words: jānāsi — you know; hi — for; yathā — how, that; saumya — O gentle one; na — not; mātṛṣu — among the mothers; mamāntaram — my difference, distinction; bhūtapūrvaṃ — having existed before; viśeṣo — distinction, partiality; vā — or; tasyā — of her, on her part; mayi — towards me; sute — towards her son; 'pi — even; vā — or

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.