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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.9.30

Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa, sarga 9: Mantharā’s plan for the boons. She recalls Kaikeyī’s rescue of Daśaratha and urges Bharata’s abhiṣeka and fourteen years of exile for Rāma

In the sequence: Kaikeyī praises Mantharā's cleverness and promises her lavish rewards

2.9.30

santi duḥsaṃsthitāḥ kubjā vakrāḥ paramapāpikāḥ
tvaṃ padmam iva vātena saṃnatā priyadarśanā

There are other hunchbacks, misshapen, crooked, and utterly wicked; but you are bent like a lotus swayed by the wind, lovely to behold.

Words: santi — there are; duḥsaṃsthitāḥ — ill-formed, misshapen; kubjā — hunchbacks; vakrāḥ — crooked; paramapāpikāḥ — utterly wicked; tvaṃ — you; padmam iva — like a lotus; vātena — by the wind; saṃnatā — bent, bowed; priyadarśanā — lovely to look upon

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.