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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.20.8

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

2.20.8

pāpayos tu kathaṃ nāma tayoḥ śaṅkā na vidyate
santi dharmopadhāḥ ślakṣṇā dharmātman kiṃ na budhyase

How is it, then, that no suspicion of those two wicked ones arises in you? There are smooth frauds dressed up as dharma—O righteous one, why do you not perceive it?

Words: pāpayos — of the two wicked ones; tu — but; kathaṃ — how; nāma — indeed; tayoḥ — of those two; śaṅkā — suspicion, doubt; na — not; vidyate — is found, exists; santi — there are; dharmopadhāḥ — frauds in the guise of dharma; ślakṣṇā — smooth, plausible; dharmātman — O righteous one; kiṃ — why; na — not; budhyase — do you perceive

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.