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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.38.4

Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa, sarga 38: Kausalyā imagines Rāma’s return. Fearing Kaikeyī and the hardships facing Rāma, Sītā & Lakṣmaṇa, she longs for her son’s homecoming and embrace

In the sequence: Kausalyā tells Daśaratha that Kaikeyī has gained her wish and will now be free to intimidate her

2.38.4

atha sma nagare rāmaś caran bhaikṣaṃ gṛhe vaset
kāmakāro varaṃ dātum api dāsaṃ mamātmajam

Far better that Rāma should dwell here in the city, going from house to house for alms; but Kaikeyī's willfulness has power even to make my son a slave by her boon.

Words: atha sma — rather, would that; nagare — in the city; rāmaś — Rāma; caran — roaming, going about; bhaikṣaṃ — alms, begging; gṛhe — in a house; vaset — would dwell; kāmakāro — willful action, caprice; varaṃ — boon; dātum — to give, grant; api — even; dāsaṃ — (as) a slave; mamātmajam — my son

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.