Chapter 67 — Ayodhya Kanda, Sarga 67

Valmiki Ramayana — Ayodhya Kanda

Verse 67.31

अहो तम इवेदं स्यान प्रज्ञायेत किंचन। राजा चेन भवेल्लोके विभजन् साध्वसाधुनी॥ जीवत्यपि महाराजे तवैव वचनं वयम्। नातिक्रमामहे सर्वे वेलां प्राप्येव सागः ॥

aho tama ivedaṃ syāna prajñāyeta kiṃcana| rājā cena bhavelloke vibhajan sādhvasādhunī|| jīvatyapi mahārāje tavaiva vacanaṃ vayam| nātikramāmahe sarve velāṃ prāpyeva sāgaḥ ||

English Meaning

If there were not a king in this world to adjudge fair and foul, darkness would overspread (the face of the earth) and people could not distinguish anything whatever. As the ocean keeps within its continent, we even while the monarch lived, did not disregard your words.

M.N. Dutt (1891–94, public domain)