Chapter 28 — Ayodhya Kanda, Sarga 28

Valmiki Ramayana — Ayodhya Kanda

Verse 28.13

उपवासश्च कर्तव्यो यथा प्राणेन मैथिलि। जटाभारश्च कर्तव्यो वल्कलाम्बरधारणम्॥ देवतानां पितृणां च कर्तव्यं विधिपूर्वकम्। प्राप्तानामतिथीनां च नित्यशः प्रतिपूजनम्॥ कार्यस्त्रिरभिषेकश्च काले काले च नित्यशः। चरतां नियमेनैव तस्माद् दुःखतरं वनम्॥

upavāsaśca kartavyo yathā prāṇena maithili| jaṭābhāraśca kartavyo valkalāmbaradhāraṇam|| devatānāṃ pitṛṇāṃ ca kartavyaṃ vidhipūrvakam| prāptānāmatithīnāṃ ca nityaśaḥ pratipūjanam|| kāryastrirabhiṣekaśca kāle kāle ca nityaśaḥ| caratāṃ niyamenaiva tasmād duḥkhataraṃ vanam||

English Meaning

One has to fast, O Maithili, according to his might, to wear matted hair and bark, to adore the deities and his ancestors according to due rites, every day to serve the guests that come to him, and observing the rules of asceticism, to bathe every day thrice, namely, in the morning, in the mid-day and in the evening; so the wood is full of misery.

M.N. Dutt (1891–94, public domain)