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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 3.23.10

Araṇya Kāṇḍa, sarga 23: Rāma prepares to fight alone. He reads the omens as signs of victory, sends Sītā & Lakṣmaṇa into a mountain cave and faces the fourteen thousand

In the sequence: he nevertheless insists on taking precautions and orders Lakṣmaṇa to escort Sītā, armed, into a secluded mountain cave → he forbids any argument or delay

3.23.10

anāgatavidhānaṃ tu kartavyaṃ śubham icchatā
āpadaṃ śaṅkamānena puruṣeṇa vipaścitā

Provision against what has not yet come should be made by a wise man who wishes good and who apprehends danger.

Words: anāgatavidhānaṃ — provision against what is to come; tu — indeed; kartavyaṃ — to be made, done; śubham — good, welfare; icchatā — by (one) wishing; āpadaṃ — danger, calamity; śaṅkamānena — by (one) apprehending, fearing; puruṣeṇa — by a man; vipaścitā — by a wise (man)

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.