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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 3.39.8
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
3.39.8
dharmam arthaṃ ca kāmaṃ ca yaśaś ca jayatāṃ vara
svāmiprasādāt sacivāḥ prāpnuvanti niśācara
Righteousness, wealth, pleasure, and fame, O best of conquerors, ministers obtain through the favour of their master, O night-ranger.
Words: dharmam — righteousness; arthaṃ ca — and wealth; kāmaṃ ca — and pleasure; yaśaś ca — and fame; jayatāṃ vara — O best of conquerors; svāmiprasādāt — through the favour of the master; sacivāḥ — ministers; prāpnuvanti — obtain; niśācara — O night-ranger
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.