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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.44.20

Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa, sarga 44: Guha welcomes Rāma at the Gaṅgā. Rāma declines food and beds, asks for fodder for the horses and sleeps on the ground with Sītā after taking water

In the sequence: he asks only that Daśaratha's horses be fed, and Guha immediately arranges it

2.44.20

kuśacīrājinadharaṃ phalamūlāśanaṃ ca mām
viddhi praṇihitaṃ dharme tāpasaṃ vanagocaram

'Know me as one clad in kuśa grass, bark, and hide, feeding on fruits and roots, intent upon dharma, an ascetic who ranges the forest.'

Words: kuśacīrājinadharaṃ — wearing kuśa grass, bark, and hide; phalamūlāśanaṃ — feeding on fruits and roots; ca — and; mām — me; viddhi — know; praṇihitaṃ — intent, devoted; dharme — upon dharma; tāpasaṃ — an ascetic; vanagocaram — ranging in the forest

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.