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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.44.9

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: Guha, the local Niṣāda ruler and Rāma's close friend, hears of their arrival and comes with his ministers and relatives

2.44.9

tatra rājā guho nāma rāmasyātmasamaḥ sakhā
niṣādajātyo balavān sthapatiś ceti viśrutaḥ

There was a king named Guha, a friend as dear to Rāma as his own self, of the Niṣāda caste, powerful, and renowned as a chieftain.

Words: tatra — there; rājā — a king; guho nāma — named Guha; rāmasyātmasamaḥ — equal to Rāma's own self; sakhā — friend; niṣādajātyo — of the Niṣāda caste; balavān — powerful, strong; sthapatiś ceti — and as a chieftain, so; viśrutaḥ — renowned, famed

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.