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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 3.39.14

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

3.39.14

svāminā pratikūlena prajās tīkṣṇena rāvaṇa
rakṣyamāṇā na vardhante meṣā gomāyunā yathā

Guarded by a perverse and harsh master, Rāvaṇa, subjects do not thrive, like sheep guarded by a jackal.

Words: svāminā — by a master; pratikūlena — perverse; prajās — subjects; tīkṣṇena — harsh; rāvaṇa — O Rāvaṇa; rakṣyamāṇā — being guarded; na vardhante — do not thrive; meṣā — sheep; gomāyunā — by a jackal; 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.