← 2.9.6 · Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa 9: Mantharā’s plan for the boons · 2.9.8 →
Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.9.7
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 now resolves to make Bharata King and send Rāma away; she asks Mantharā how to accomplish it
2.9.7
kathaya tvaṃ mamopāyaṃ kenopāyena manthare
bharataḥ prāpnuyād rājyaṃ na tu rāmaḥ kathaṃ cana
“Tell me the means, O Mantharā — by what means Bharata might gain the kingdom, and Rāma by no means at all.”
Words: kathaya — tell; tvaṃ — you; mamopāyaṃ — me the means; kenopāyena — by what means; manthare — O Mantharā; bharataḥ — Bharata; prāpnuyād — might obtain; rājyaṃ — the kingdom; na tu rāmaḥ — but not Rāma; kathaṃ cana — in any way at all
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.