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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.54.3

Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa, sarga 54: Sumantra comforts Kausalyā. He describes Lakṣmaṇa’s service and Sītā’s curiosity about the forest, but Kausalyā’s grief persists

In the sequence: Kausalyā asks Sumantra to take her to the travelers, saying she cannot remain without them

2.54.3

nivartaya rathaṃ śīghraṃ daṇḍakān naya mām api
atha tān nānugacchāmi gamiṣyāmi yamakṣayam

“Turn the chariot back quickly and take me too to the Daṇḍaka forest; if I do not follow after them, I shall go to the abode of Yama.”

Words: nivartaya — turn back; rathaṃ — the chariot; śīghraṃ — quickly; daṇḍakān — to the Daṇḍaka (forest); naya — lead, take; mām — me; api — also, too; atha — now, if then; tān — them; nānugacchāmi — I do not follow; gamiṣyāmi — I shall go; yamakṣayam — to the abode of Yama (death)

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.