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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.61.24

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 ask Vasiṣṭha to arrange the succession.

2.61.24

jīvaty api mahārāje tavaiva vacanaṃ vayam
nātikramāmahe sarve velāṃ prāpyeva sāgaraḥ

Even while the great king lived, all of us never transgressed your very word, just as the ocean does not overpass its shore.

Words: jīvaty api — even while (he) lived; mahārāje — when the great king; tavaiva — your very; vacanaṃ — word, command; vayam — we; nātikramāmahe — do not transgress; sarve — all; velāṃ — the shore, limit; prāpyeva — as if reaching; sāgaraḥ — the ocean

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.