← 3.68.8 · Araṇya Kāṇḍa 68: Kabandha advises friendship with Sugrīva · 3.68.10 →

Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 3.68.9

Araṇya Kāṇḍa, sarga 68: Kabandha advises friendship with Sugrīva. Restored by cremation, he urges a pledge before fire and explains how the two can help each other

In the sequence: invoking the need for sound policy when one's strength is reduced, he says that an alliance is essential to success

3.68.9

daśābhāgagato hīnas tvaṃ rāma sahalakṣmaṇaḥ
yat kṛte vyasanaṃ prāptaṃ tvayā dārapradharṣaṇam

“Reduced to a tenth part and brought low are you, Rāma, together with Lakṣmaṇa — you on whose account calamity has come, the violation of your wife.

Words: daśābhāgagato — come to a tenth portion; hīnas — diminished, brought low; tvaṃ — you; rāma — O Rāma; sahalakṣmaṇaḥ — together with Lakṣmaṇa; yat kṛte — on account of which; vyasanaṃ — calamity, misfortune; prāptaṃ — reached, obtained; tvayā — by you; dārapradharṣaṇam — the violation of your wife

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.