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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 3.38.11

Araṇya Kāṇḍa, sarga 38: Rāvaṇa compels Mārīca. He rejects unwelcome advice, offers half his Kingdom for help and threatens immediate death if Mārīca refuses the deer disguise

In the sequence: he lectures him on a minister's obligation to address a King respectfully and avoid unwelcome words

3.38.11

sāvamardaṃ tu yad vākyaṃ mārīca hitam ucyate
nābhinandati tad rājā mānārho mānavarjitam

But a word that, however beneficial, Mārīca, is spoken with a slight—that a king worthy of honour, being thus stripped of honour, does not welcome.

Words: sāvamardaṃ — with insult, humiliation; tu — but; yad vākyaṃ — which word; mārīca — O Mārīca; hitam — beneficial; ucyate — is spoken; nābhinandati — does not welcome; tad rājā — that king; mānārho — worthy of honour; mānavarjitam — (a word) stripped of honour

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.