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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.24.7
Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa, sarga 24: Sītā claims a share in the exile. She insists that a wife shares her husband’s fate and chooses forest hardship with Rāma over comfort without him
In the sequence: she offers to walk ahead and clear thorns from his path, saying that life beside him is better than palace comforts
2.24.7
prāsādāgrair vimānair vā vaihāyasagatena vā
sarvāvasthāgatā bhartuḥ pādacchāyā viśiṣyate
Better than palace-terraces, aerial cars, or flight through the sky, is the shade of a husband's feet, which attends one in every condition.
Words: prāsādāgrair — by palace-terraces; vimānair vā — or by aerial cars; vaihāyasagatena vā — or by travel through the air; sarvāvasthāgatā — attending in every condition; bhartuḥ — of the husband; pādacchāyā — the shade of the feet; viśiṣyate — is superior, preferable
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.