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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.73.13

Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa, sarga 73: Bharata’s plan to restore Rāma. He refuses the prepared abhiṣeka, orders its materials taken to the forest and commissions a road for the expedition

In the sequence: he offers to spend the fourteen years in exile himself → he directs workers to prepare the route, with scouts and guards along it

2.73.13

kriyatāṃ śilpibhiḥ panthāḥ samāni viṣamāṇi ca
rakṣiṇaś cānusaṃyāntu pathi durgavicārakāḥ

Let the road be made by the artisans, both the level stretches and the rough; and let guards, scouts of difficult terrain, go along the way.

Words: kriyatāṃ — let (it) be made; śilpibhiḥ — by the artisans, craftsmen; panthāḥ — the road; samāni — level stretches; viṣamāṇi ca — and the rough (places); rakṣiṇaś — guards; cānusaṃyāntu — and let them go along; pathi — on the path; durgavicārakāḥ — scouts of difficult terrain

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.