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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.57.4

Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa, sarga 57: Daśaratha’s arrow aimed at a sound. He recalls mistaking a filling pot for an elephant and shooting a youth who directs him to his blind parents

In the sequence: he says that people reap the consequences of their actions and that acting without considering the result has brought him to this point.

2.57.4

yad ācarati kalyāṇi śubhaṃ vā yadi vāśubham
tad eva labhate bhadre kartā karmajam ātmanaḥ

Whatever one does, good lady, whether good or evil, that very thing, O gracious one, the doer reaps, born of his own deed.

Words: yad — whatever; ācarati — one does, performs; kalyāṇi — O good lady; śubhaṃ — good, auspicious; vā — or; yadi — if; vāśubham — or evil; tad eva — that very; labhate — obtains, reaps; bhadre — O gracious one; kartā — the doer; karmajam — born of the deed; ātmanaḥ — of his own self

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.