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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.94.18

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 stresses the value of a single wise adviser over many incapable ones

2.94.18

sahasrāṇy api mūrkhāṇāṃ yady upāste mahīpatiḥ
atha vāpy ayutāny eva nāsti teṣu sahāyatā

Even if a king should retain thousands of fools, or even tens of thousands, there is no help to be had in them.

Words: sahasrāṇy — thousands; api — even; mūrkhāṇāṃ — of fools; yady — if; upāste — retains, attends on; mahīpatiḥ — the king; atha vāpy — or else; ayutāny — tens of thousands; eva — even; nāsti — there is not; teṣu — in them; sahāyatā — helpfulness, assistance

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.