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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.27.12

Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa, sarga 27: Rāma agrees that Sītā will accompany him. Sītā rejects separation despite every hardship, Rāma agrees to take her and asks her to distribute their possessions

In the sequence: she says the journey will not exhaust her: thorns will feel soft, dust like sandal paste, and food gathered by his hands like nectar

2.27.12

mahāvāta samuddhūtaṃ yan mām avakariṣyati
rajo ramaṇa tan manye parārdhyam iva candanam

The dust that a great wind whirls up and scatters over me, that too, my beloved, I shall regard as the most precious sandal-paste.

Words: mahāvāta — by a great wind; samuddhūtaṃ — raised up, stirred up; yan — which; mām — me; avakariṣyati — will cover, sprinkle over; rajo — dust; ramaṇa — O beloved; tan — that; manye — I regard; parārdhyam — most precious; iva — like; candanam — sandal-paste

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.