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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.20.30

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 points to his weapons and promises to defeat anyone who intervenes

2.20.30

baddhagodhāṅgulitrāṇe pragṛhītaśarāsane
kathaṃ puruṣamānī syāt puruṣāṇāṃ mayi sthite

When I stand with my leather arm-guard and finger-guards bound on and my bow grasped, how could any of men account himself a man?

Words: baddhagodhāṅgulitrāṇe — with leather arm-guard and finger-guards bound on; pragṛhītaśarāsane — with bow grasped; kathaṃ — how; puruṣamānī — one who prides himself a man; syāt — could be; puruṣāṇāṃ — among men; mayi — when I; sthite — stand

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.