← 2.46.47 · Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa 46: Rāma crosses the Gaṅgā · 2.46.49 →

Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.46.48

Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa, sarga 46: Rāma crosses the Gaṅgā. He sends Sumantra back as proof of departure, forms matted locks with banyan sap and crosses while Sītā prays

In the sequence: he offers to serve them in the forest and bring them home when the exile ends

2.46.48

bhṛtyavatsala tiṣṭhantaṃ bhartṛputragate pathi
bhaktaṃ bhṛtyaṃ sthitaṃ sthityāṃ tvaṃ na māṃ hātum arhasi

'O lover of your servants, you ought not to abandon me — a devoted servant, standing firm in his duty, keeping to the road along which my master's son has gone.'

Words: bhṛtyavatsala — O one fond of your servants; tiṣṭhantaṃ — standing, waiting; bhartṛputragate — trodden by the master's son; pathi — on the road; bhaktaṃ — devoted; bhṛtyaṃ — servant; sthitaṃ — standing, remaining; sthityāṃ — in (his) proper station, duty; tvaṃ — you; na — not; māṃ — me; hātum — to abandon; arhasi — ought

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.