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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.66.38

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: Bharata asks where they are → on hearing of the exile, he anxiously asks whether Rāma committed some grave offense

2.66.38

kaccin na paradārān vā rājaputro 'bhimanyate
kasmāt sa daṇḍakāraṇye bhrūṇaheva vivāsitaḥ

“Surely the prince has not coveted another man's wife? Why has he been banished to the Daṇḍaka forest like the slayer of an embryo?”

Words: kaccin — surely (not)?; na — not; paradārān — another's wife; vā — or; rājaputro — the prince; 'bhimanyate — covets; kasmāt — why; sa — he; daṇḍakāraṇye — in the Daṇḍaka forest; bhrūṇaheva — like a slayer of an embryo; vivāsitaḥ — banished

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.