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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.57.7

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.

2.57.7

so 'ham āmravaṇaṃ chittvā palāśāṃś ca nyaṣecayam
rāmaṃ phalāgame tyaktvā paścāc chocāmi durmatiḥ

So I, having cut down a mango grove and watered palāśas, cast off Rāma at the very time of fruiting; now, fool that I am, I grieve afterward.

Words: so — that very one; 'ham — I; āmravaṇaṃ — a mango grove; chittvā — having cut down; palāśāṃś ca — and palāśa trees; nyaṣecayam — I watered, irrigated; rāmaṃ — Rāma; phalāgame — at the time of fruiting; tyaktvā — having abandoned; paścāc — afterward; chocāmi — I grieve; durmatiḥ — the fool, evil-minded one

Composed by Maharṣi Vālmīki. 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.