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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.97.19

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

2.97.19

etābhyāṃ dharmaśīlābhyāṃ vanaṃ gaccheti rāghava
mātā pitṛbhyām ukto 'haṃ katham anyat samācare

By these two of righteous conduct, mother and father, I was told, 'Go to the forest,' O Rāghava; how could I do otherwise?

Words: etābhyāṃ — by these two; dharmaśīlābhyāṃ — of righteous conduct; vanaṃ — to the forest; gaccheti — ‘go,’ thus; rāghava — O Rāghava; mātā pitṛbhyām — by mother and father; ukto 'haṃ — I was told; katham — how; anyat — otherwise; samācare — could I act

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.