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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.8.26
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
2.8.26
darpān nirākṛtā pūrvaṃ tvayā saubhāgyavattayā
rāmamātā sapatnī te kathaṃ vairaṃ na yātayet
Rāma's mother, your rival, whom you once spurned out of pride in your good fortune — how should she not repay that enmity?
Words: darpān — out of pride; nirākṛtā — slighted, rejected; pūrvaṃ — formerly; tvayā — by you; saubhāgyavattayā — through possession of good fortune; rāmamātā — Rāma's mother; sapatnī te — your co-wife, rival; kathaṃ — how; vairaṃ — enmity; na yātayet — would she not repay, avenge
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.