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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.30.23

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: Rāma hears them without changing his decision and asks Sumantra to announce him to the King.

2.30.23

tat pūrvam aikṣvākasuto mahātmā rāmo gamiṣyan vanam ārtarūpam
vyatiṣṭhata prekṣya tadā sumantraṃ pitur mahātmā pratihāraṇārtham

First of all, the great-souled Rāma, son of the Ikṣvāku line, about to go to the sorrowful forest, then halted, looking at Sumantra, so that he might be announced to his father.

Words: tat pūrvam — first of all, before that; aikṣvākasuto — son of the Ikṣvāku line; mahātmā — the great-souled; rāmo — Rāma; gamiṣyan — about to go; vanam — to the forest; ārtarūpam — of sorrowful aspect; vyatiṣṭhata — halted, stood still; prekṣya — having looked at; tadā — then; sumantraṃ — Sumantra; pitur — of his father; mahātmā — the great-souled; pratihāraṇārtham — for the purpose of being announced

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.