← 2.27.27 · Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa 27: Rāma agrees that Sītā will accompany him · 2.27.29 →

Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.27.28

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: Rāma embraces her and explains that his reluctance came from concern for her, not inability to protect her → now that he understands her determination, he agrees that she will accompany him

2.27.28

dharmas tu gajanāsoru sadbhir ācaritaḥ purā
taṃ cāham anuvarte 'dya yathā sūryaṃ suvarcalā

This dharma, O you with thighs like an elephant's trunk, was practiced by the good of old; and I today follow it, as Suvarcalā follows the Sun.

Words: dharmas — dharma; tu — indeed; gajanāsoru — O you with thighs (round) like an elephant's trunk; sadbhir — by the good; ācaritaḥ — practiced, followed; purā — of old; taṃ — that (dharma); cāham — and I; anuvarte — follow; 'dya — today; yathā — as; sūryaṃ — the Sun; suvarcalā — Suvarcalā (the Sun's wife)

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.