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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.72.4
Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa, sarga 72: Bharata stops Mantharā’s punishment. Śatrughna drags her across the floor, Bharata orders her release to avoid Rāma’s condemnation
In the sequence: Śatrughna angrily asks why Lakṣmaṇa did not prevent the exile, even by restraining their father
2.72.4
pūrvam eva tu nigrāhyaḥ samavekṣya nayānayau
utpathaṃ yaḥ samārūḍho nāryā rājā vaśaṃ gataḥ
Rather, considering right policy and wrong, the king ought to have been restrained beforehand — he who took the wrong path and fell under a woman's power.
Words: pūrvam eva tu — rather, beforehand; nigrāhyaḥ — ought to have been restrained; samavekṣya — having considered; nayānayau — right policy and wrong; utpathaṃ — the wrong path; yaḥ — who; samārūḍho — mounted, took to; nāryā — of a woman; rājā — the king; vaśaṃ — to the power; gataḥ — gone
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.