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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.98.15

Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa, sarga 98: Bharata’s appeal and Rāma’s answer. Bharata asks him to restore the Kingdom, Rāma teaches the inevitability of loss, separation and death

In the sequence: Rāma answers that possessions end in loss, meetings in separation, and life in death

2.98.15

nātmanaḥ kāmakāro 'sti puruṣo 'yam anīśvaraḥ
itaś cetarataś cainaṃ kṛtāntaḥ parikarṣati

A man has no power to act as he wills over himself; he is not his own master. Fate drags him this way and that.

Words: nātmanaḥ — not over himself; kāmakāro 'sti — is there freedom of will; puruṣo 'yam — this man; anīśvaraḥ — not his own master, powerless; itaś cetarataś — this way and that; cainaṃ — and him; kṛtāntaḥ — Fate, the Ender; parikarṣati — drags around

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.