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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.52.5

Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa, sarga 52: Sumantra reports the farewells. Rāma asks Bharata to care for the family, Lakṣmaṇa condemns the banishment and Sītā stands silently in tears

In the sequence: After reviving, Daśaratha asks Sumantra how the travelers will eat, sleep, and survive in the forest

2.52.5

yaṃ yāntam anuyānti sma padāti rathakuñjarāḥ
sa vatsyati kathaṃ rāmo vijanaṃ vanam āśritaḥ

'He whom, as he went, foot-soldiers, chariots, and elephants used to follow—how will that Rāma dwell, taking to a lonely forest?'

Words: yaṃ — whom; yāntam — going; anuyānti sma — used to follow; padāti — foot-soldiers; rathakuñjarāḥ — chariots and elephants; sa — he; vatsyati — will dwell; kathaṃ — how; rāmo — Rāma; vijanaṃ — lonely, unpeopled; vanam — forest; āśritaḥ — taking to, resorting to

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.