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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.42.23

Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa, sarga 42: The citizens return to Ayodhyā without Rāma. Families reproach the men for returning without Rāma and imagine abandoning Kaikeyī’s Kingdom to join him

In the sequence: they fear life under Kaikeyī and doubt Daśaratha will survive the separation

2.42.23

te viṣaṃ pibatāloḍya kṣīṇapuṇyāḥ sudurgatāḥ
rāghavaṃ vānugacchadhvam aśrutiṃ vāpi gacchata

So drink poison stirred and mixed, O you whose merit is spent, you wretched ones—or else follow Rāghava, or go where no report of this shall reach you.

Words: te — you there; viṣaṃ — poison; pibatāloḍya — drink, having stirred; kṣīṇapuṇyāḥ — whose merit is spent; sudurgatāḥ — very wretched; rāghavaṃ — Rāghava; vānugacchadhvam — or follow; aśrutiṃ — to where nothing is heard; vāpi — or else; gacchata — go

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.