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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.20.15

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 offers to overcome every obstacle to Rāma's abhiṣeka, even opposition from their father

2.20.15

atyaṅkuśam ivoddāmaṃ gajaṃ madabaloddhatam
pradhāvitam ahaṃ daivaṃ pauruṣeṇa nivartaye

As one turns back a rampaging elephant, unbridled and beyond the goad, made wild by the strength of its rut, so I turn back onrushing fate by manly effort.

Words: atyaṅkuśam — beyond the goad, past control; ivoddāmaṃ — like an unbridled one; gajaṃ — elephant; madabaloddhatam — made wild by the force of rut; pradhāvitam — rushing on, charging; ahaṃ — I; daivaṃ — fate; pauruṣeṇa — by manly effort; nivartaye — turn back, repel

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.