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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.90.16

Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa, sarga 90: Lakṣmaṇa suspects Bharata’s army. He recognizes the banner, assumes an attack and urges Rāma to extinguish the fire, hide Sītā and prepare to fight

In the sequence: he urges taking a defensible position and attacking

2.90.16

gṛhītadhanuṣau cāvāṃ giriṃ vīra śrayāvahe
api nau vaśam āgacchet kovidāradhvajo raṇe

With our bows taken up, O hero, let us two take to the mountain; perhaps the kovidāra-bannered one will fall into our power in battle.

Words: gṛhītadhanuṣau — the two with bows taken up; cāvāṃ — and we two; giriṃ — the mountain; vīra — O hero; śrayāvahe — let us two resort to; api — perhaps; nau — of us two, into our; vaśam — power, control; āgacchet — may come; kovidāradhvajo — the kovidāra-bannered one; raṇe — in battle

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.