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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 3.61.8

Araṇya Kāṇḍa, sarga 61: Lakṣmaṇa restrains Rāma’s anger. He rejects destroying the world for one offender and urges a search and persuasion before resorting to force

In the sequence: he says they do not yet know who owned or wrecked the chariot → although the ground clearly shows a fight, it shows no great army, so the evidence does not justify blaming the world for one offender's act

3.61.8

ekasya tu vimardo 'yaṃ na dvayor vadatāṃ vara
na hi vṛttaṃ hi paśyāmi balasya mahataḥ padam

This was the struggle of one alone, not of two, O best of speakers; for I see no sign, no footprint of a great host.

Words: ekasya tu — but of one; vimardo 'yaṃ — this conflict, struggle; na dvayor — not of two; vadatāṃ vara — O best of speakers; na hi — for not; vṛttaṃ — occurrence, trace; hi — indeed; paśyāmi — I see; balasya — of an army, host; mahataḥ — great; padam — footprint, track

Composed by Maharṣi Vālmīki. 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.