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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.99.13

Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa, sarga 99: Rāma explains Daśaratha’s obligations. The marriage pledge and wartime boons bind the succession, Bharata & Śatrughna must govern while Rāma & Lakṣmaṇa remain in the forest

In the sequence: he urges Bharata to free their father from his debt, citing Gaya's explanation that a son is called putra because he saves his father from the hell called Put → he recalls the wish for many righteous sons so that at least one may perform the ancestral rites at Gayā

2.99.13

eṣṭavyā bahavaḥ putrā guṇavanto bahuśrutāḥ
teṣāṃ vai samavetānām api kaś cid gayāṃ vrajet

Many sons should be desired, virtuous and deeply learned; for out of them, assembled together, at least one might go to Gayā (to perform the rites).

Words: eṣṭavyā — should be desired; bahavaḥ putrā — many sons; guṇavanto — virtuous; bahuśrutāḥ — deeply learned; teṣāṃ vai — of them indeed; samavetānām — of those assembled; api kaś cid — even someone, at least one; gayāṃ — to Gayā; vrajet — might go

Composed by Maharṣi Vālmīki. 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.