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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.98.48

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

2.98.48

kathaṃ daśarathāj jātaḥ śuddhābhijanakarmaṇaḥ
jānan dharmam adharmiṣṭhaṃ kuryāṃ karma jugupsitam

How could I, born of Daśaratha of pure lineage and deeds, and knowing dharma, do a most unrighteous, contemptible act?

Words: kathaṃ — how; daśarathāj jātaḥ — born of Daśaratha; śuddhābhijanakarmaṇaḥ — of pure birth and deeds; jānan dharmam — knowing dharma; adharmiṣṭhaṃ — most unrighteous; kuryāṃ — could I do; karma jugupsitam — a contemptible deed

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.