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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.61.20

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: without authority to settle disputes, they say, people will prey on one another

2.61.20

yathā hy anudakā nadyo yathā vāpy atṛṇaṃ vanam
agopālā yathā gāvas tathā rāṣṭram arājakam

For as rivers without water, or a forest without grass, or cattle without a herdsman — so is a realm without a king.

Words: yathā — as; hy — indeed; anudakā — waterless; nadyo — rivers; yathā — as; vāpy — or even; atṛṇaṃ — grassless; vanam — forest; agopālā — without a herdsman; yathā — as; gāvas — cattle; tathā — so; rāṣṭram — realm; arājakam — kingless

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.