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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.41.19

Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa, sarga 41: Rāma leaves the sleeping citizens. Sumantra lays misleading tracks, Rāma crosses the Tamasā with Sītā & Lakṣmaṇa before the followers wake

In the sequence: seeing the exhausted citizens asleep under trees, Rāma decides they should leave before the followers wake: affection for him should not force them into further hardship

2.41.19

yāvad eva tu saṃsuptās tāvad eva vayaṃ laghu
ratham āruhya gacchāmaḥ panthānam akutobhayam

While they are still fast asleep, let us at once mount the chariot and set off along a road free of danger from any quarter.

Words: yāvad — as long as, while; eva — just; tu — indeed; saṃsuptās — fast asleep; tāvad — meanwhile, just so; eva — just; vayaṃ — we; laghu — quickly, lightly; ratham — the chariot; āruhya — having mounted; gacchāmaḥ — let us go; panthānam — the road; akutobhayam — free of danger from any quarter

Composed by Maharṣi Vālmīki. 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.