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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.7.23

Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa, sarga 7: Mantharā’s alarm, Kaikeyī’s joy. Mantharā warns of danger to Bharata, Kaikeyī rewards her and declares equal affection for both princes

In the sequence: Mantharā presents Rāma's succession as a threat to Kaikeyī and Bharata, claiming that Daśaratha has used Bharata's absence to give Kausalyā's family the advantage

2.7.23

śatruḥ patipravādena mātreva hitakāmyayā
āśīviṣa ivāṅkena bāle paridhṛtas tvayā

“An enemy under the guise of a husband, O child, has been cherished by you in your lap, out of desire for his good, as by a mother — like a venomous snake.

Words: śatruḥ — an enemy; patipravādena — under the guise of a husband; mātreva — as by a mother; hitakāmyayā — out of desire for (his) good; āśīviṣa — a venomous snake; ivāṅkena — as if in the lap; bāle — O child; paridhṛtas — held, cherished; tvayā — by 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.