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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 3.43.24

Araṇya Kāṇḍa, sarga 43: Lakṣmaṇa leaves Sītā. He identifies the cry as deception, but her accusations overcome his resolve to stay and he departs toward Rāma

In the sequence: Sītā grows angrier, accusing him either of pursuing her himself or of acting for Bharata → she insists that she would die rather than belong to another man.

3.43.24

samakṣaṃ tava saumitre prāṇāṃs tyakṣye na saṃśayaḥ
rāmaṃ vinā kṣaṇam api na hi jīvāmi bhūtale

Before your very eyes, Saumitri, I shall give up my life, without doubt; for without Rāma I will not live even a moment upon this earth.

Words: samakṣaṃ — before the eyes of; tava — your; saumitre — O Saumitri; prāṇāṃs — life; tyakṣye — I shall give up; na — no; saṃśayaḥ — doubt; rāmaṃ — Rāma; vinā — without; kṣaṇam — a moment; api — even; na — not; hi — for; jīvāmi — I live; bhūtale — upon the earth

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.