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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.66.24
Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa, sarga 66: Kaikeyī’s disclosure. Bharata learns that Daśaratha died calling for the exiles, Kaikeyī admits arranging Rāma’s banishment and urges him to claim the throne
In the sequence: he asks for Rāma, whom he now regards as his father and refuge, and for Daśaratha's final words
2.66.24
na nūnaṃ māṃ mahārājaḥ prāptaṃ jānāti kīrtimān
upajighred dhi māṃ mūrdhni tātaḥ saṃnamya satvaram
“Surely the illustrious great king does not know that I have arrived; else my father would quickly have bent down and smelled my head.”
Words: na nūnaṃ — surely not; māṃ — me; mahārājaḥ — the great king; prāptaṃ — arrived; jānāti — knows; kīrtimān — the illustrious; upajighred — would smell; dhi — indeed; māṃ — me; mūrdhni — on the head; tātaḥ — father; saṃnamya — bending down; satvaram — quickly
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.