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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.41.21

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

2.41.21

paurā hy ātmakṛtād duḥkhād vipramocyā nṛpātmajaiḥ
na tu khalv ātmanā yojyā duḥkhena puravāsinaḥ

For princes ought to free the townsfolk from self-incurred sorrow, and surely never themselves burden the city-dwellers with grief.

Words: paurā — the townsfolk; hy — for, indeed; ātmakṛtād — from self-caused (sorrow); duḥkhād — from sorrow; vipramocyā — to be freed; nṛpātmajaiḥ — by princes; na — not; tu — but; khalv — surely; ātmanā — by oneself; yojyā — to be yoked, burdened; duḥkhena — with sorrow; puravāsinaḥ — the city-dwellers

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.