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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.68.14

Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa, sarga 68: Surabhi’s tears and Bharata’s vow. He compares Kausalyā’s sorrow to Surabhi’s grief for her exhausted oxen and offers to replace Rāma in exile

In the sequence: he says her actions have disgraced him too: the world will associate him with the gain she sought

2.68.14

aṅgapratyaṅgajaḥ putro hṛdayāc cāpi jāyate
tasmāt priyataro mātuḥ priyatvān na tu bāndhavaḥ

A son is born from every limb and member, and from the heart as well; therefore he is dearer to a mother than any kinsman, by the very nature of that love.

Words: aṅgapratyaṅgajaḥ — born of every limb and member; putro — a son; hṛdayāc cāpi — and from the heart too; jāyate — is born; tasmāt — therefore; priyataro — dearer; mātuḥ — to a mother; priyatvān — by reason of that dearness; na tu — but not; bāndhavaḥ — a kinsman

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.