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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.41.32

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: the citizens wake, search for Rāma, follow the tracks briefly, and then lose them → unable to discover where he has gone, they return to Ayodhyā.

2.41.32

rathasya mārganāśena nyavartanta manasvinaḥ
kim idaṃ kiṃ kariṣyāmo daivenopahatā iti

At the loss of the chariot's track the noble-minded ones turned back, crying, 'What is this? What shall we do, stricken by fate?'

Words: rathasya — of the chariot; mārganāśena — by the loss of the track; nyavartanta — turned back; manasvinaḥ — the noble-minded, spirited ones; kim — what; idaṃ — is this; kiṃ — what; kariṣyāmo — shall we do; daivenopahatā — stricken by fate; iti — thus

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.