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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.43.14

Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa, sarga 43: Rāma crosses Kosala’s rivers. He crosses the Vedaśruti, Gomatī & Syandikā, shows Sītā the ancestral lands and longs to see his parents again

In the sequence: speaking with Sumantra, he wonders when he will return to his parents and once again visit the Sarayū's woods.

2.43.14

nātyartham abhikāṅkṣāmi mṛgayāṃ sarayūvane
ratir hy eṣātulā loke rājarṣigaṇasaṃmatā

'Not overmuch do I long for the hunt in the Sarayū forest — yet this is a peerless delight in the world, esteemed by the whole host of royal seers.'

Words: nātyartham — not overmuch, not excessively; abhikāṅkṣāmi — I long for, desire; mṛgayāṃ — the hunt, chase; sarayūvane — in the Sarayū forest; ratir — delight, pleasure; hy — for, indeed; eṣātulā — this peerless (one); loke — in the world; rājarṣigaṇasaṃmatā — esteemed by the host of royal seers

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.