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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.98.57

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: he says ruling and maintaining a household are appropriate duties for Rāma at this stage of life → he asks Vasiṣṭha to install Rāma there in the forest and offers once again to stay if Rāma will not return → Rāma remains firm, while the gathering joins Bharata's appeal.

2.98.57

atha kleśajam eva tvaṃ dharmaṃ caritum icchasi
dharmeṇa caturo varṇān pālayan kleśam āpnuhi

But if you wish to practise a dharma born of hardship, then win your hardship by righteously protecting the four varṇas!

Words: atha — but if, now; kleśajam eva — born of hardship indeed; tvaṃ — you; dharmaṃ caritum icchasi — wish to practise dharma; dharmeṇa — through dharma, righteously; caturo varṇān — the four classes; pālayan — protecting; kleśam āpnuhi — obtain (your) hardship

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.