← 2.94.25 · Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa 94: Rāma questions Bharata’s governance · 2.94.27 →

Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.94.26

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 about trustworthy appointments, military leadership, treatment of officers, and timely food and pay for troops

2.94.26

ka cid balasya bhaktaṃ ca vetanaṃ ca yathocitam
saṃprāptakālaṃ dātavyaṃ dadāsi na vilambase

Do you give the army its due rations and pay, as befitting, when the time for it has come, and not delay?

Words: ka cid — is it that; balasya — of the army; bhaktaṃ — rations, food; ca — and; vetanaṃ — wages, pay; ca — and; yathocitam — as is fitting; saṃprāptakālaṃ — when the time has come; dātavyaṃ — to be given; dadāsi — you give; na — not; vilambase — you delay

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.