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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.97.21

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: in his view, Daśaratha assigned Bharata Ayodhyā and himself the forest, and each must now fulfill that assignment → he values keeping it above any Kingdom.

2.97.21

evaṃ kṛtvā mahārājo vibhāgaṃ lokasaṃnidhau
vyādiśya ca mahātejā divaṃ daśaratho gataḥ

Having thus made the division in the presence of the world, and having so ordained, the great king Daśaratha of great splendour went to heaven.

Words: evaṃ — thus; kṛtvā — having made; mahārājo — the great king; vibhāgaṃ — the division, apportionment; lokasaṃnidhau — in the presence of the world; vyādiśya ca — and having ordained; mahātejā — of great splendour; divaṃ — to heaven; daśaratho — Daśaratha; gataḥ — went

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.