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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.9.31

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

2.9.31

uras te 'bhiniviṣṭaṃ vai yāvat skandhāt samunnatam
adhastāc codaraṃ śāntaṃ sunābham iva lajjitam

Your bosom rises drawn in, as high as the shoulders, and below, your slender waist seems modest, graced with a lovely navel.

Words: uras te 'bhiniviṣṭaṃ — your bosom is drawn in; vai — indeed; yāvat skandhāt — as far as the shoulder; samunnatam — raised up; adhastāc codaraṃ — and below, the belly; śāntaṃ — calm, recessed, slender; sunābham iva — as if with a lovely navel; lajjitam — bashful, modest

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.