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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.97.18

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: he explains that he owes obedience to both parents

2.97.18

yāvat pitari dharmajña gauravaṃ lokasatkṛte
tāvad dharmabhṛtāṃ śreṣṭha jananyām api gauravam

As great as the reverence due to a father honoured by the world, O knower of dharma, so great, O best of the dharma-bearers, is the reverence due also to a mother.

Words: yāvat — as much as; pitari — toward the father; dharmajña — O knower of dharma; gauravaṃ — reverence; lokasatkṛte — honoured by the world; tāvad — so much; dharmabhṛtāṃ — of the dharma-bearers; śreṣṭha — O best; jananyām api — also toward the mother; gauravam — reverence

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.