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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.8.9

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: Kaikeyī defends Rāma: he is virtuous, the eldest, and entitled to succeed; he will protect his brothers → she expects Bharata to inherit in time and says Rāma serves her even more attentively than he serves Kausalyā

2.8.9

bharataś cāpi rāmasya dhruvaṃ varṣaśatāt param
pitṛpaitāmahaṃ rājyam avāpsyati nararṣabhaḥ

And Bharata too, that bull among men, will surely obtain the ancestral kingdom after Rāma, once a hundred years have passed.

Words: bharataś cāpi — and Bharata too; rāmasya — after Rāma; dhruvaṃ — surely; varṣaśatāt — after a hundred years; param — beyond, after; pitṛpaitāmahaṃ — of fathers and forefathers, ancestral; rājyam — the kingdom; avāpsyati — will obtain; nararṣabhaḥ — the bull among men

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.