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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.4.20

Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa, sarga 4: Omens hasten the abhiṣeka. Daśaratha fixes the ceremony for the next day while Bharata is away, Rāma & Sītā must fast and sleep on darbha

In the sequence: he has been having frightening dreams; meteors have fallen with crashing sounds, and astrologers report threatening planetary influences on his birth-star → fearing death or another disaster, he wants the ceremony completed while his mind remains steady

2.4.20

tad yāvad eva me ceto na vimuhyati rāghava
tāvad evābhiṣiñcasva calā hi prāṇināṃ matiḥ

So then, Rāghava, while my mind is not yet deranged, be consecrated at once; for the minds of living beings are fickle.

Words: tad — so, therefore; yāvad eva — just so long as; me — my; ceto — mind; na — not; vimuhyati — becomes deranged, confused; rāghava — O Rāghava; tāvad evābhiṣiñcasva — just so long, be consecrated; calā — fickle, unsteady; hi — for, indeed; prāṇināṃ — of living beings; matiḥ — the mind, thought

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.