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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.55.12

Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa, sarga 55: Kausalyā reproaches Daśaratha. She fears Rāma will reject Bharata’s former Kingdom even after returning, Daśaratha collapses and recalls his past wrongdoing

In the sequence: she fears that even after fourteen years he will refuse a Kingdom already enjoyed by Bharata

2.55.12

na pareṇāhṛtaṃ bhakṣyaṃ vyāghraḥ khāditum icchati
evam eva naravyāghraḥ paralīḍhaṃ na maṃsyate

“A tiger does not care to eat food brought down by another; just so the tiger among men will not think of what another has tasted before him.

Words: na — not; pareṇāhṛtaṃ — brought by another; bhakṣyaṃ — food, prey; vyāghraḥ — a tiger; khāditum — to eat; icchati — wishes, cares; evam eva — just so, in the very same way; naravyāghraḥ — the tiger among men; paralīḍhaṃ — what has been tasted/licked by another; na — not; maṃsyate — will think of, esteem

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.