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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.97.16

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

2.97.16

kulīnaḥ sattvasaṃpannas tejasvī caritavrataḥ
rājyahetoḥ kathaṃ pāpam ācaret tvadvidho janaḥ

“How could a person like you — well-born, endowed with goodness, splendid, and true to his vows — commit sin for the sake of a kingdom?

Words: kulīnaḥ — well-born; sattvasaṃpannas — endowed with goodness; tejasvī — splendid, energetic; caritavrataḥ — true to his vows; rājyahetoḥ — for the sake of a kingdom; kathaṃ — how; pāpam — sin; ācaret — would commit; tvadvidho — one like you; janaḥ — person

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.