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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.61.23

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

2.61.23

aho tama ivedaṃ syān na prajñāyeta kiṃ cana
rājā cen na bhaveṃl loke vibhajan sādhvasādhunī

Ah, all this would be as darkness, and nothing could be discerned, were there no king in the world to distinguish right from wrong.

Words: aho — ah, alas; tama ivedaṃ — this would be like darkness; syān — would be; na — not; prajñāyeta — would be discerned; kiṃ cana — anything; rājā — king; cen — if; na — not; bhaveṃl — were; loke — in the world; vibhajan — distinguishing, dividing; sādhvasādhunī — right and wrong

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.