← 2.40.13 · Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa 40: The citizens follow to the Tamasā · 2.40.15 →

Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.40.14

Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa, sarga 40: The citizens follow to the Tamasā. Rāma asks them to support Bharata, then leaves his chariot to walk beside the elderly brāhmaṇas

In the sequence: elderly brāhmaṇas call to the horses to turn around → unwilling to ride ahead while these old men struggle on foot, Rāma gets down, and Sītā and Lakṣmaṇa walk with him

2.40.14

vahanto javanā rāmaṃ bho bho jātyās turaṃgamāḥ
nivartadhvaṃ na gantavyaṃ hitā bhavata bhartari
upavāhyas tu vo bhartā nāpavāhyaḥ purād vanam

'O you swift and well-bred horses that bear Rāma along, turn back! you must not go on; be kindly toward your master. Your lord is to be borne back, not carried away from the city to the forest.'

Words: vahanto — carrying, bearing; javanā — swift; rāmaṃ — Rāma; bho bho — O! O!; jātyās — well-bred, of good stock; turaṃgamāḥ — horses; nivartadhvaṃ — turn back; na gantavyaṃ — you must not go; hitā — kindly, well-disposed; bhavata — be; bhartari — toward the master; upavāhyas — to be carried back; tu — but; vo — your; bhartā — lord, master; nāpavāhyaḥ — not to be carried away; purād — from the city; vanam — to the 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.