← 2.8.24 · Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa 8: Mantharā turns Kaikeyī’s mind · 2.8.26 →

Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.8.25

Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa, sarga 8: Mantharā turns Kaikeyī’s mind. Kaikeyī defends Rāma, Mantharā argues that his descendants will exclude Bharata’s line and urges Rāma’s exile

In the sequence: she warns that Kausalyā will repay earlier slights

2.8.25

abhidrutam ivāraṇye siṃhena gajayūthapam
pracchādyamānaṃ rāmeṇa bharataṃ trātum arhasi

You ought to save Bharata, who is being overpowered by Rāma as a lord of the elephant-herd is assailed by a lion in the forest.

Words: abhidrutam — assailed, run upon; ivāraṇye — as if in the forest; siṃhena — by a lion; gajayūthapam — the leader of an elephant-herd; pracchādyamānaṃ — being overwhelmed, overshadowed; rāmeṇa — by Rāma; bharataṃ — Bharata; trātum arhasi — you ought to save

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.