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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 3.39.12

Araṇya Kāṇḍa, sarga 39: Mārīca’s final warning. He condemns advisers who fail to restrain a destructive ruler and predicts that the abduction will kill them both and ruin Laṅkā

In the sequence: he condemns ministers who fail to restrain a ruler on a destructive course, because the ruler's failure ruins everyone dependent on him

3.39.12

ye tīkṣṇamantrāḥ sacivā bhajyante saha tena vai
viṣameṣu rathāḥ śīghraṃ mandasārathayo yathā

Ministers of harsh counsel are broken along with him (the king), just as chariots with poor charioteers are swiftly wrecked on rough ground.

Words: ye — who; tīkṣṇamantrāḥ — of harsh counsel; sacivā — ministers; bhajyante — are broken; saha tena — along with him; vai — indeed; viṣameṣu — on rough (ground); rathāḥ — chariots; śīghraṃ — swiftly; mandasārathayo — with poor charioteers; yathā — as

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.