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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.99.8

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: his own part is the fourteen-year exile; Bharata's is to accept abhiṣeka

2.99.8

so 'haṃ vanam idaṃ prāpto nirjanaṃ lakṣmaṇānvitaḥ
śītayā cāpratidvandvaḥ satyavāde sthitaḥ pituḥ

So I, peerless, have come to this desolate forest, accompanied by Lakṣmaṇa and Sītā, standing firm in my father's truthfulness.

Words: so 'haṃ — I, that same one; vanam idaṃ — this forest; prāpto — reached, arrived at; nirjanaṃ — desolate, uninhabited; lakṣmaṇānvitaḥ — accompanied by Lakṣmaṇa; śītayā — with Sītā; cāpratidvandvaḥ — and without a rival, peerless; satyavāde — in truthfulness of speech; sthitaḥ — standing firm, abiding; pituḥ — of the father

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.