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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.20.10

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: he says a courageous person should act against misfortune instead of submitting to fate

2.20.10

yady api pratipattis te daivī cāpi tayor matam
tathāpy upekṣaṇīyaṃ te na me tad api rocate

Even if your conviction is that this is fated and is the intent of those two, still it is a thing you should disregard; that too does not please me.

Words: yady — even if; api — even; pratipattis — conviction, view; te — your; daivī — divine, fated; cāpi — and even; tayor — of those two; matam — the intention, purpose; tathāpy — even so; upekṣaṇīyaṃ — to be disregarded; te — by you; na — not; me — to me; tad — that; api — also; rocate — pleases

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.