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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.78.6

Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa, sarga 78: Guha prepares to resist Bharata. Seeing the army, he readies five hundred armed boats to protect Rāma and approaches Bharata to learn his intentions

In the sequence: he orders his men to guard the river for Rāma's protection

2.78.6

tiṣṭhantu sarvadāśāś ca gaṅgām anvāśritā nadīm
balayuktā nadīrakṣā māṃsamūlaphalāśanāḥ

Let all the fishermen, stationed along the river Gaṅgā, provided with a force and living on meat, roots, and fruit, stand as guardians of the river.

Words: tiṣṭhantu — let them stand; sarvadāśāś ca — and all the fishermen; gaṅgām anvāśritā — stationed along the Gaṅgā; nadīm — river; balayuktā — provided with a force; nadīrakṣā — guardians of the river; māṃsamūlaphalāśanāḥ — living on meat, roots, and fruit

Composed by Maharṣi Vālmīki. 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.