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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.98.41
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: Bharata admires Rāma's steadiness but argues that a good son should correct a father's harmful decision → he rejects Kaikeyī's action and asks Rāma to rescue the family and people from its consequences
2.98.41
ko hi syād īdṛśo loke yādṛśas tvam ariṃdama
na tvāṃ pravyathayed duḥkhaṃ prītir vā na praharṣayet
Who in the world could be such as you, O tamer of foes? No sorrow could shake you, no joy could elate you.
Words: ko hi syād — who indeed could be; īdṛśo — such a one; loke — in the world; yādṛśas tvam — such as you; ariṃdama — O tamer of foes; na tvāṃ pravyathayed — sorrow could not shake you; duḥkhaṃ — sorrow; prītir vā — or joy; na praharṣayet — could not elate
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.