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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.97.20

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

2.97.20

tvayā rājyam ayodhyāyāṃ prāptavyaṃ lokasatkṛtam
vastavyaṃ daṇḍakāraṇye mayā valkalavāsasā

By you the world-honoured kingdom in Ayodhyā is to be obtained; by me, clad in bark garments, the Daṇḍaka forest is to be dwelt in.

Words: tvayā — by you; rājyam — the kingdom; ayodhyāyāṃ — in Ayodhyā; prāptavyaṃ — to be obtained; lokasatkṛtam — world-honoured; vastavyaṃ — to be dwelt in; daṇḍakāraṇye — in the Daṇḍaka forest; mayā — by me; valkalavāsasā — clad in bark garments

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.