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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 3.31.4

Araṇya Kāṇḍa, sarga 31: Śūrpaṇakhā rebukes Rāvaṇa. She exposes his ignorance of Janasthāna’s destruction and warns that pleasure, failed intelligence and neglect will cost him his Kingdom

In the sequence: she argues that a ruler who neglects business, intelligence, and the protection of his territory will lose both authority and Kingdom

3.31.4

svayaṃ kāryāṇi yaḥ kāle nānutiṣṭhati pārthivaḥ
sa tu vai saha rājyena taiś ca kāryair vinaśyati

The king who does not himself attend to his tasks in due time perishes, along with his kingdom and those very tasks.

Words: svayaṃ — himself; kāryāṇi — tasks, affairs; yaḥ — who; kāle — in (due) time; nānutiṣṭhati — does not attend to; pārthivaḥ — the king; sa tu vai — he indeed; saha rājyena — together with his kingdom; taiś ca kāryair — and with those tasks; vinaśyati — perishes

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.