← 2.99.2 · Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa 99: Rāma explains Daśaratha’s obligations · 2.99.4 →
Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.99.3
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 recalls Daśaratha's promise of the Kingdom as a bride-price to Kaikeyī's father at her marriage, followed by the boons granted to Kaikeyī after the war between Devas and asuras → he treats Kaikeyī's later demands as claims their father was bound to fulfill
2.99.3
purā bhrātaḥ pitā naḥ sa mātaraṃ te samudvahan
mātāmahe samāśrauṣīd rājyaśulkam anuttamam
Long ago, O brother, when our father took your mother in marriage, he promised to her father (your maternal grandfather) the kingdom as an unsurpassed bride-price.
Words: purā — formerly, long ago; bhrātaḥ — O brother; pitā naḥ — our father; sa — he; mātaraṃ te — your mother; samudvahan — marrying, taking in wedlock; mātāmahe — to the maternal grandfather; samāśrauṣīd — promised, pledged; rājyaśulkam — the kingdom as bride-price; anuttamam — unsurpassed
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.