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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.61.10

Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa, sarga 61: Ayodhyā without a King. Ministers warn that food production, worship, trade and protection will fail without a ruler and ask Vasiṣṭha to arrange succession

In the sequence: they urge an immediate appointment from the Ikṣvāku family

2.61.10

arājake dhanaṃ nāsti nāsti bhāryāpy arājake
idam atyāhitaṃ cānyat kutaḥ satyam arājake

In a kingless state there is no wealth, nor even a wife; and there is this further, grave calamity — whence could truth exist in a kingless state?

Words: arājake — in kinglessness; dhanaṃ — wealth; nāsti — there is not; nāsti — there is not; bhāryāpy — even a wife; arājake — in kinglessness; idam — this; atyāhitaṃ — grave calamity, extreme danger; cānyat — and another; kutaḥ — whence; satyam — truth; arājake — in kinglessness

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.