← 2.30.18 · Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa 30: The walk to Daśaratha’s palace · 2.30.20 →

Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.30.19

Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa, sarga 30: The walk to Daśaratha’s palace. Seeing Rāma, Sītā & Lakṣmaṇa without royal honours, citizens propose leaving Ayodhyā to follow them

In the sequence: some propose taking their families and possessions after him, leaving Kaikeyī an empty city → wherever Rāma lives, they say, will become their city, while abandoned Ayodhyā becomes a forest

2.30.19

vanaṃ nagaram evāstu yena gacchati rāghavaḥ
asmābhiś ca parityaktaṃ puraṃ saṃpadyatāṃ vanam

Let the forest itself be the city, wherever Rāghava goes; and let the city, forsaken by us, become a forest.

Words: vanaṃ — the forest; nagaram evāstu — let it be the very city; yena — where(by); gacchati — goes; rāghavaḥ — Rāghava; asmābhiś ca — and by us; parityaktaṃ — forsaken; puraṃ — the city; saṃpadyatāṃ — let it become; vanam — a forest

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.