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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.9.45
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.
2.9.45
iha vā māṃ mṛtāṃ kubje nṛpāyāvedayiṣyasi
vanaṃ tu rāghave prāpte bharataḥ prāpsyati kṣitim
“Either you shall report me here as dead, O hunchback, or else, once Rāghava has reached the forest, Bharata shall gain the earth.”
Words: iha vā — either here; māṃ mṛtāṃ — me (as) dead; kubje — O hunchback; nṛpāyāvedayiṣyasi — you shall report to the king; vanaṃ tu rāghave prāpte — but once Rāghava has reached the forest; bharataḥ prāpsyati kṣitim — Bharata shall gain the earth
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.