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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.61.9

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

2.61.9

nārājake janapade bījamuṣṭiḥ prakīryate
nārākake pituḥ putro bhāryā vā vartate vaśe

In a kingless land no handful of seed is sown; in a kingless land neither does a son stay in his father's control, nor a wife under her husband's.

Words: nārājake — not in a kingless (land); janapade — land; bījamuṣṭiḥ — a handful of seed; prakīryate — is scattered, sown; nārākake — not in a kingless (land); pituḥ — of the father; putro — the son; bhāryā — the wife; vā — or; vartate — abides, stays; vaśe — in control

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.