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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.66.5
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 tells her about the journey and says he traveled ahead of the slower gifts and baggage
2.66.5
adya te kati cid rātryaś cyutasyāryakaveśmanaḥ
api nādhvaśramaḥ śīghraṃ rathenāpatatas tava
“How many nights is it now since you left your grandfather's house? And is there no fatigue of the road for you, speeding hither swiftly by chariot?”
Words: adya — now; te — for you; kati cid — how many; rātryaś — nights; cyutasyāryakaveśmanaḥ — since you departed from your grandfather's house; api — and (question); nādhvaśramaḥ — no fatigue of the road; śīghraṃ — swiftly; rathenāpatatas — speeding by chariot; tava — for you
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.