← 2.8.3 · Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa 8: Mantharā turns Kaikeyī’s mind · 2.8.5 →
Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.8.4
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: Mantharā throws aside the gift and insists that Kaikeyī is celebrating her own humiliation → she predicts that Kaikeyī will become Kausalyā's servant and Bharata's household will lose its standing
2.8.4
prāptāṃ sumahatīṃ prītiṃ pratītāṃ tāṃ hatadviṣam
upasthāsyasi kausalyāṃ dāsīva tvaṃ kṛtāñjaliḥ
You will wait upon that Kausalyā — who has won very great joy, exultant, and rid of her rivals — like a serving-maid, your palms joined in homage.
Words: prāptāṃ — who has attained; sumahatīṃ — very great; prītiṃ — joy, delight; pratītāṃ — exultant, confident; tāṃ — her; hatadviṣam — whose foes are destroyed; upasthāsyasi — you will wait upon, attend; kausalyāṃ — Kausalyā; dāsīva — like a serving-maid; tvaṃ — you; kṛtāñjaliḥ — with palms joined
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.