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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 3.43.28

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: Wounded by her words, Lakṣmaṇa says he reveres her but responds with bitter generalizations about women and calls the forest beings to witness that he has obeyed his brother

3.43.28

upaśṛṇvantu me sarve sākṣibhūtā vanecarāḥ
nyāyavādī yathā vākyam ukto 'haṃ paruṣaṃ tvayā

Let all the forest-dwellers who stand as witnesses hear me: though I speak justly, I have been addressed harshly by you.

Words: upaśṛṇvantu — let (them) hear; me — me; sarve — all; sākṣibhūtā — being witnesses; vanecarāḥ — forest-dwellers; nyāyavādī — (I) speaking justly; yathā — how, that; vākyam — word; ukto — spoken, addressed; 'haṃ — I; paruṣaṃ — harshly; tvayā — by you

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.