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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.9.40

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: urged to act before it is too late, she removes her ornaments, lies on the bare floor, and declares that she will either obtain the two demands or die.

2.9.40

iti praśasyamānā sā kaikeyīm idam abravīt
śayānāṃ śayane śubhre vedyām agniśikhām iva

Praised thus, she spoke this to Kaikeyī, who lay upon the bright couch like a tongue of flame upon an altar:

Words: iti praśasyamānā — being thus praised; sā — she; kaikeyīm idam abravīt — spoke this to Kaikeyī; śayānāṃ — reclining; śayane śubhre — on the bright couch; vedyām — on the altar; agniśikhām iva — like a tongue of flame

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.