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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.20.6

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 rejects Rāma's explanation: he sees deliberate manipulation disguised as duty

2.20.6

dharmadoṣaprasaṅgena lokasyānatiśaṅkayā
kathaṃ hy etad asaṃbhrāntas tvadvidho vaktum arhati

For how could one like you, unagitated, be right to speak this way—out of a scruple about a fault in dharma and out of over-deference to the world?

Words: dharmadoṣaprasaṅgena — through concern over a fault in dharma; lokasyānatiśaṅkayā — through undue deference to the world; kathaṃ — how; hy — indeed; etad — this; asaṃbhrāntas — unagitated, unperturbed; tvadvidho — one like you; vaktum — to speak; arhati — ought, is fit

Composed by Maharṣi Vālmīki. 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.