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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.97.15

Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa, sarga 97: Bharata offers Rāma the Kingdom. Rāma absolves him of blame but insists that both brothers honour their father’s division between Kingdom and forest

In the sequence: Rāma embraces him and says he sees no fault in him, but asks him not to condemn their mother

2.97.15

taṃ mattam iva mātaṅgaṃ niḥśvasantaṃ punaḥ punaḥ
bhrātaraṃ bharataṃ rāmaḥ pariṣvajyedam abravīt

Embracing his brother Bharata, who was sighing again and again like a rutting elephant, Rāma spoke this:

Words: taṃ — him; mattam iva mātaṅgaṃ — like a rutting elephant; niḥśvasantaṃ — sighing; punaḥ punaḥ — again and again; bhrātaraṃ — brother; bharataṃ — Bharata; rāmaḥ — Rāma; pariṣvajyedam — having embraced, this; abravīt — spoke

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.