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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.35.33

Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa, sarga 35: The chariot departs. Sumitrā counsels Lakṣmaṇa, crowds and parents follow, Daśaratha calls for a halt while Rāma urges Sumantra onward

In the sequence: Daśaratha calls for the chariot to stop, while Rāma tells Sumantra to continue → unable to bear prolonging his parents' suffering, Rāma tells the driver to say he did not hear if the King later reproaches him → Sumantra drives on, and the ministers persuade Daśaratha to stop following.

2.35.33

tiṣṭheti rājā cukroṣa yāhi yāhīti rāghavaḥ
sumantrasya babhūvātmā cakrayor iva cāntarā

'Stop!' cried the king, while Rāghava said 'Go on, go on!'; and Sumantra's mind became as though caught between two wheels.

Words: tiṣṭheti — 'stop!' so; rājā — the king; cukroṣa — cried out; yāhi yāhīti — 'go, go!' so; rāghavaḥ — Rāghava; sumantrasya — of Sumantra; babhūvātmā — the mind became; cakrayor — of the two wheels; iva — as if, like; cāntarā — and between

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.