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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.94.27

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

2.94.27

kālātikramaṇe hy eva bhakta vetanayor bhṛtāḥ
bhartuḥ kupyanti duṣyanti so 'narthaḥ sumahān smṛtaḥ

For when the time for their rations and pay is overstepped, hired men grow enraged with their master and turn disloyal; that is reckoned a very great calamity.

Words: kālātikramaṇe — in overstepping the time; hy — for; eva — indeed; bhakta vetanayor — of rations and pay (both); bhṛtāḥ — the hired men; bhartuḥ — with their master; kupyanti — grow angry; duṣyanti — turn disloyal, corrupt; so — that; 'narthaḥ — calamity; sumahān — very great; smṛtaḥ — is reckoned

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.