← 2.94.9 · Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa 94: Rāma questions Bharata’s governance · 2.94.11 →

Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.94.10

Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa, sarga 94: Rāma questions Bharata’s governance. He asks after the family, advisers, spies, troop provisions, water, revenue and impartial justice, still unaware of Daśaratha’s death

In the sequence: he asks whether Bharata consults capable ministers, keeps counsel confidential, makes decisions promptly, and avoids both solitary judgment and overlarge councils

2.94.10

kaccid ātma samāḥ śūrāḥ śrutavanto jitendriyāḥ
kulīnāś ceṅgitajñāś ca kṛtās te tāta mantriṇaḥ

Are your ministers made men like yourself — brave, learned, self-controlled, of noble birth, and skilled in reading gestures, dear one?

Words: kaccid — is it that; ātma samāḥ — equal to yourself; śūrāḥ — brave; śrutavanto — learned; jitendriyāḥ — with senses conquered; kulīnāś — of noble birth; ceṅgitajñāś — and skilled in reading gestures; ca — and; kṛtās — made; te — your; tāta — dear one; mantriṇaḥ — ministers

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.