Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa 20: Lakṣmaṇa opposes fate with effort · 2.20.2 →

Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.20.1

Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa, sarga 20: Lakṣmaṇa opposes fate with effort. He offers to overcome every obstacle by force, Rāma wipes away his tears but remains bound to the promise

In the sequence: Lakṣmaṇa struggles with grief and anger

2.20.1

iti bruvati rāme tu lakṣmaṇo 'dhaḥśirā muhuḥ
śrutvā madhyaṃ jagāmeva manasā duḥkhaharṣayoḥ

As Rāma was speaking thus, Lakṣmaṇa, his head repeatedly hanging down, having listened, seemed in his mind to hold the middle ground between grief and joy.

Words: iti — thus; bruvati — (while) speaking; rāme — Rāma; tu — but, and; lakṣmaṇo — Lakṣmaṇa; 'dhaḥśirā — head bent down; muhuḥ — repeatedly; śrutvā — having heard; madhyaṃ — the middle; jagāmeva — went, as it were; manasā — in mind; duḥkhaharṣayoḥ — of grief and joy

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.